BOSTON, Mass. – It was a game of runs and No. 2 seed Boston U. used a decisive 16-0 spurt to pull away from the No. 7 seed Leopards 74-68 in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal on Sunday.
 
The Terriers (11-2) scored the final bucket of the third quarter and then ran off 14 more points over the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to break open a close game. Maren Durant scored 11 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Terriers outscored Lafayette 22-17.
 
For the Leopards (5-8), Natalie Kucowski showed why she was selected as the Patriot League Player of the Year. The senior scored 21 points while grabbing 15 rebounds for her 54^th career double-double. Kucowski also blocked three shots, dished four assists and managed two steals in 40 minutes.
 
In the opening seconds of the second quarter, Kucowski grabbed her seventh rebound of the game to become the Patriot League career rebounding leader, surpassing Holy Cross' Lauren Manis '19 (1,188). Her 21-point effort moved her to fourth place on Lafayette's career scoring list with 1,415 points (eclipsing Colleen Fitzpatrick '04  with 1,399).
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Kucowski was 9-of-11 from the line as one of three players in double figures, joined by fellow senior Drew Freeland, who had 14 points, and Naomi Ganpo who powered in 10 despite having her playing time limited by foul trouble.
 
The first half featured five ties and five lead changes. Over a five-minute span in the first quarter, Lafayette put together an 11-3 run spurred by five different players scoring. Freeland's three with 2:18 left on a Jess Booth pass gave Lafayette a 15-5 lead in Case Gym. BU closed the quarter on a 10-3 run as Lafayette led 18-15.
 
The hosts took over the momentum in the second quarter, outscoring Lafayette 23-15. BU closed the quarter on 10-0 run that included threes by Maggie Pina and Sydney Johnson. The outside shooting was the difference in the opening half, both teams shooting around 40 percent from the floor, but Boston U. knocking down eight three's to three for Lafayette to lead 38-33.
 
The Leopards put together a 13-6 run to close out the third quarter, trailing by just one (52-51). Kucowski buried three's on back-to-back possessions, Ganpo finished off a three-point play and Makaila Wilson added a put-back. Johnson hit a jumper just before the third-quarter horn for the Terriers to finish with a game-high 19 points.
 
BU continued to get buckets and limit Lafayette's offense. Three's by Johnson and Katie Nelson, forced Kia Damon-Olsen to take a timeout trailing 58-51. Out of the timeout, Johnson netted another three and Durant converted a three-point play and a put-back as the Terriers put up 14 straight points to lead 64-51 with 7:16 left.
 
Ganpo stopped the slide for the Leopards, making a turnaround jumper in the lane at 5:47. Freeland followed with a three to cut the deficit to 66-56 at 5:06 before Boston U took a timeout. The teams exchanged buckets on the next two possessions and Lafayette trailed by 10 with four minutes left in the game.

A pair of Kucowski free throws trimmed the deficit to nine with 2:31 left, but Durant answered with two more buckets to end the game.