Boston, Mass. (March 21, 2013)—The Sacred Heart Women's Basketball Team fell 61-49 to Boston University in their first WNIT appearance Thursday night in Boston. SHU's leading scorer Gabrielle Washington (Mesa, Ariz.) posted a team-high 16 points, while Blair Koniszewski (Vienna, Va.) shot 45.5% from the floor totaling 14 points. With the loss, Sacred Heart closes the 2012-13 season 22-11.
The Terriers led from the opening tip to the final buzzer as Chantell Alford landed back-to-back triples for the first scores of the game, giving BU an early 6-0 lead.
Alissa Tarsi (Clinton, N.J.), making her first collegiate start, laid one in to put the Pioneers on the board. Washington followed it with a bucket to cut BU's lead to 6-4.
Ericka Norman (Chino Hills, Calif.) tied the score at six with a pair of free throws before a nearly three-minute scoring drought.
With 14:55 on the clock Mollie McKendrick broke the tie with a jumper from the right side, but Norman answered with a layup knotting the score again at eight.
The Terriers broke out of the 11:00 media timeout on fire, making three consecutive shots to take a 23-14 lead, forcing SHU Head Coach Ed Swanson to call a timeout.
The Pioneers set off on a 12-4 run, in which Koniszewski brought SHU within one point, 27-26, knocking down a trey and one.
The Terriers answered with an 11-1 run to close out the first half, sending SHU into halftime down 38-27. BU shot an impressive 51.7% from the floor in the first half, while the Pioneers only shot 32.3%.
Both teams played tough defense to open the second half with a total of just six points being allowed before the 15:49 media timeout.
After only making one basket in the first six minutes of the half, Kiley Evans (Cazenovia, N.Y.) landed a jumper sparking 12-2 Pioneer run, closing the gap to 46-41 with just over nine minutes left to play.
Norman got a steal and a lay-in, Washington buried a three and Koniszewski completed a three-point play to fuel the rally.
The Terriers responded with a game-clinching 11-0 run over the next five minutes to take their biggest lead of the night at 57-41, and coast home for the win.
Chantell Alford had a game-high 17 points for the Terriers while Rashidat Agboola had a double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
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