The Eagles kept their momentum rolling with their fifth straight victory, 58-50 over the BU Terriers Feb. 18. AU led from the opening tip, and stretched their lead to as many as 14 points in the second half while holding off a late BU rally.
Senior guard Jen Dumiak paced the Eagles (18-8, 13-2 PL) with 23 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Junior guard Ari Booth also notched double-digit points with 10 and junior forward Michelle Holmes was a point shy of a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.
AU raced out to an early 7-0 lead in the game’s first four minutes behind five early points from senior forward Arron Zimmerman. The Eagles maintained a comfortable lead for most of the first half before BU (5-21, 2-13 PL) pulled within three points after a jumper from senior forward Mollie McKendrick with six minutes left in the half.
The Eagles responded by holding the Terriers without a point for the rest of the half, putting together an 8-0 run to give themselves a comfortable 32-21 halftime lead. Dumiak played a key role in the half-ending surge, scoring six points consecutive points during the run.
Dumiak, Holmes and freshman guard Emily Kinneston helped the Eagles push their lead to 14 in the second half. Dumiak’s layup with 13:53 gave the Eagles a 46-32 lead. However the Terriers fought back late and closed within seven points after junior guard Troi Melton converted a two-point jumper. Dumiak responded immediately with a three-pointer to push the Eagles lead back to double-digits and AU was able to see out the game with relative comfort.
The Eagles uncharacteristically struggled from both the free-throw and three-point line, shooting 50 and 35.3 percent respectively. The Terriers shot 41.7 percent from the field, but were plagued by 14 turnovers, which the Eagles converted into 17 points. The Eagles outrebounded the Terriers 35-31 and had 15 assists on their 23 made field goals.
The victory keeps the Eagles, who have already clinched a home game for the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League tournament, in first place in the league and one game ahead of Army in the loss column. The Eagles welcome Army to Bender Arena on Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. looking at avenge their Jan. 24 loss to the Black Knights. The game could decide the regular season Patriot League champion, with only two regular season games remaining after the Saturday meeting of the top two teams in the league.
