BOSTON -- The University of Delaware women’s basketball squad couldn’t hold on to a nine-point second half lead and missed out on several opportunities in the final minutes, suffering its first loss of the season Sunday with a 61-59 setback to host Boston University at Case Gym.

Delaware (3-1), which had won its first three-games this season by an average margin of over 21 points, held a 46-37 lead with just over 14 minutes left but couldn’t take advantage down the stretch in falling to its former America East conference foes. The teams were meeting for the first time since March 8, 2001 when Delaware posted a 67-49 victory at the Terrapin Classic at the University of Maryland.

Junior guard Tyresa Smith (at right) led the Blue Hens with a career-high 24 points to go with four rebounds, five assists, and five steals and junior forward Chrissy Fisher added her third straight double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds but Delaware got just 16 points from the rest of the squad. Smith moved into fourth place on the all-time UD steals list
during the game, upping her career total to 186.

Boston University (2-1), which advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2003, placed four scorers in double figures as Kasey Devine and Rachael Vanderwal each had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Corinne Jean added 11 points, and Christine Kinneary added 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

“This was a very disappointing loss for us,” said Delaware head coach Tina Martin. “I was disappointed in our execution, especially in the last six minutes of the game. But I was very happy with Tyresa Smith’s play today. She played her heart out.”

Both teams were almost identical statistically. Delaware shot 39.7 percent from the field (25 of 63), pulled 40 rebounds, and committed just 12 turnovers while Boston University shot 38 percent from the field (19 of 50), gathered 40 rebounds, and committed 15 turnovers.

The Terriers held a 17-7 advantage at the foul line. The first half featured five ties and 12 lead changes before the Hens finally took a 34-32 lead into halftime when Fischer converted a layup off a feed from Smith with 19 seconds left to play. The two combined to score 23 of Delaware’s 34 points in the stanza.

The Hens took control early in the second half, outscoring Boston University 12-5 over the first five minutes to take a 46-37 advantage with 14:41 left in the game. Smith scored10 of her points in those opening five minutes, including a layup that gave the Hens their biggest lead of the day.

The Terriers chipped away at the lead and finally tied the score at 50-50 on two free throws by Devine with 9:09 left. Both teams traded small leads over the next five minutes and Boston University tied the game at 57-57 on a Devine\ jumper with 2:33 remaining.

But Delaware failed to convert a field goal after that, missing on all four attempts, and could not take advantage of six missed free throws by the Terriers in the final two minutes. Devine missed a free throw with BU up 58-57 with 2:11 left but Delaware’s Alena Koshansky turned the ball over on the Hens’ next possession.

Erica Kovach hit one of two free throws with 1:30 remaining to give the Terriers a 59-57 lead, but Smith and Koshansky could not convert jump shots and the teams traded turnovers before Vanderwal upped the BU lead to 61-57 with two free throws with 12 seconds remaining.

Koshansky hit two of three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt to narrow the margin to 61-59 with five seconds left and Boston University’s Cheri Raffo followed by missing two free throws. But Kinneary grabbed the offensive rebound after the second miss to keep possession. Kinneary then missed both of her free throws with two seconds left but the Blue Hens could not get a shot off.

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