WEST HARTFORD, CONN. --– No. 3 seed Boston University (18-10) closed the game on a 14-0 run, and surged past No. 6 seed Vermont (14-13), 67-57, in a Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Championship quarterfinal game on Thursday afternoon at Chase Family Arena. The Terriers trailed by four with 2:42 remaining before shutting out the Catamounts down the stretch.
After a Vermont free throw gave the Catamounts a 57-53 lead, Boston University received back-to-back three-pointers from junior forward Becky Bonner and senior guard Katie Terhune to take the lead for good, 59-57, with 1:46 left. Sophomore guard Rachael Vanderwal then produced a steal and fastbreak bucket to extend the lead to four, and Terhune seized an offensive rebound after a missed free throw and scored for a 63-57 advantage with 42 seconds showing. The Terriers then hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the win.
Terhune scored 17 of her team-high 21 points in the second half, and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds. Senior guard Marisa Moseley scored 11 points and Bonner chipped in 10.
Senior forward Aaron Yantzi led Vermont with game-highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds. Junior forward Katie McNamara added 14 points for the Catamounts.
Vermont led 33-20 at halftime and, despite seeing the gap quickly closed to four at the start of the second half, still led by 10, 43-33, with 12:10 to play. However, the Terriers ran of a 15-2 run in a span of 3:33 and took a 48-45 lead with 8:19 left. Four different players scored during the run, in which Boston University was 6-for-6 from the field. After connecting on just 22 percent of its shots (8-of-36) in the opening period, the Terriers shot 57 percent (17-of-30) over the final 20 minutes.
The Terriers, the reigning America East champions, advance to a semifinal game on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. They will face the winner of today’s second quarterfinal game, between No. 2 seed Binghamton and No. 7 seed Northeastern.