Balanced Effort Lifts Terriers Past Eagles in PL First Round, 69-58

Saturday, March 7

Boston, MA

2 PM

Boston University

11-19,6-12Patriot

American — PL First Round

7-23,5-13Patriot

Team	1	2	3	4	F
American	12	16	17	13	58
Boston U.	16	19	17	17	69

Photo by: Eliza Nuestro

Balanced Effort Lifts Terriers Past Eagles in PL First Round, 69-58

March 7, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Postgame Audio - Melissa Graves, Bella McLaughlin & Kate Allard

BOSTON – Senior Anete Adler recorded 21 points to lead five Terriers with at least eight points as the No. 8-seed Boston University women's basketball program dispatched ninth-seeded American 69-58 in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Case Gym.

BU (11-19) trailed for only 2:58 in the entire contest and withstood a fourth-quarter rally from the Eagles (7-23) by keeping the visitors off the scoreboard in the final 3:47 of regulation.

With the win, BU advances to the quarterfinal round on Monday (March 9), visiting No. 1-seed Navy in Annapolis, Md.

Adler made 10 shots while adding four assists and four blocks. Sophomore Hildur Gunnsteinsdóttir made a trio of three-pointers en route to 13 points. Freshman Kate Allard set career highs with 12 points and six rebounds, four coming on the offensive glass.

Charlotte Tuhy led all scorers with 26 points and 15 rebounds. Madisyn Moore-Nicholson added 18 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Junior Inés Monteagudo Pardo started the game with a corner three before American executed an 8-2 run. However, McLaughlin tied the game with her own three-point play 4:34 into the contest.
Tuhy canned a jumper for a 12-10 American advantage with 3:49 on the timer, but the Terriers closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run with layups from McLaughlin, Adler and sophomore Allison Schwertner.
After Gunnsteinsdóttir and Kayla Greyvensteyn traded three-pointers in the first two minutes of the second, the Terriers ripped off a 12-2 run. Allard ignited the spurt with a pair of layups, sophomore Taylor Williams buried a right-wing triple and Gunnsteinsdóttir ended the run with five straight points, putting BU in front 31-19.
Moore-Nicholson capped a 7-0 Eagle run with a three-pointer that made it a two-possession game, but McLaughlin skated down the left lane for a driving layup to put BU on top at halftime, 35-28.
Monteagudo started the third quarter with a jumper just inside the arc, but Moore-Nicholson and Tuhy combined for a 7-2 American run to slash BU's lead to 39-35.
After Monteagudo's three and Tuhy's jumper as three minutes ticked by in the stanza, the Terriers held the Eagles without a field goal for the next 6:30. McLaughlin's layup at the 3:14 mark handed BU its largest advantage of the day, 50-38.
BU once again led by 12, 60-48, after Williams dished to Adler for a hook shot then made one free throw with 6:29 left in regulation.
Tuhy then scored eight straight points and Moore-Nicholson drove in for a layup for a 10-0 American run across nearly three minutes, whittling the gap to 60-58.
Adler floated a second-chance basket into the net with 2:21 remaining to extend the lead to four. Nearly a minute later, she found Gunnsteinsdóttir for a three in front of BU's bench to make it 65-58.
Allard capped the day with a steal at midcourt and banked in a left-handed layup with under 30 seconds on the clock.

STATS

BU shot just under 50 percent in the game and was 46.3 percent (6-for-13) from three-point range.
American made 36.2 percent of their shots.
Rebounds favored the Eagles, 35-34. Despite American winning the offensive glass at 11-8, the Terriers had 15 second-chance points to the Eagles' eight.
BU racked up 44 points in the paint and 18 from its bench unit.
Adler and Monteagudo finished with four assists each to lead the team.
BU committed only seven turnovers, its fewest in a game this year.

NOTES

Adler registered her seventh 20-plus point performance this year and eighth in her career. Seventeen of her points came in the second half.
Gunnsteinsdóttir was two points shy of her career high while scoring 13 points for the first time since Jan. 7 against Lafayette.
Prior to her 12-point outing, Allard had scored 24 points in 14 appearances.
The Terriers improve to 6-1 in Patriot League Tournament home games under head coach Melissa Graves, who has won at least one postseason game in all five seasons at the helm.
BU evens the postseason record against American at 3-3, capturing its first victory over the Eagles in the tournament since 2021.

UP NEXT

No. 8-seed BU meets the regular season champion Midshipmen on Monday (March 9) in the Patriot League quarterfinal round. Opening tip from Alumni Hall is set for 7 p.m.