By Joseph Rubin

Bounced out of the top spot in the America East Conference, the women’s basketball team lost again this week, while Stony Brook and UNH fight for the precious fourth seed in the tournament.

The Huskies fell to local rival and third seed Boston University, 71-60 at their second meeting, and made it the fifth straight, as the Huskies tally yet another loss to their disappointing record.

Last time the two teams met, it was during an NU four game winning streak, and the Huskies bit the Terriers by nine, after coming back from a sufficient deficit early on in the game.

This time it was a different story, as the Terriers repeated their performance — took an early lead — and again were answered by the Huskies with a tie. The Huntington Hounds then failed to take advantage of many scoring opportunities while allowing BU to turn Husky turnovers into points.

The Huskies finished the first half within six, 32-26, but both the physical and mental damage had been done.

According to NU coach Willette White, “the tables had turned from the last time.”

This time, the Huskies had trouble from the line and posting up, while BU took advantage, a reverse of the first encounter.

“I don’t think we are as strong defensively as I would have liked to be,” White said. “We could be better.”

The Terriers opened up the second half on an 8-0 run, which gave BU their biggest lead of the game, 40-26. NU junior Melissa Kowalski started a 10-3 run with a little over six and a half minutes left, which narrowed the Terrier lead to four with 2:50 left on the clock.

A 12-5 run by the Terriers ended the game.