BU women’s basketball star Caitlin Weimar (COM’24) scored her 1,000th career point in the Terriers’ 80-77 triumph over Harvard Saturday. Photo by Jonny Ratner.

Women's Sports

How Caitlin Weimar Became an “Unstoppable Force” for BU Women’s Basketball

Standout forward, who just scored her 1,000th career point, hopes to lead Terriers to first conference title since 2003

Caitlin Weimar rose up to shoot and Case Gymnasium held its breath. 

With its November 6 season-opener against UMass Lowell tied at 58 and the clock’s final seconds ticking away, the Boston University women’s basketball team had the ball and time for one final play. Weimar (COM’24), BU’s 6-foot-4 star forward, battled for position in the paint. 

The River Hawks tried to deny her the ball and collapsed into a double team when she snagged it in the low post. It didn’t matter. Weimar took a dribble, spun away from her defender, and floated a hook shot that swished through the net as the final buzzer sounded. The gym erupted, and the Terriers scooped up a thrilling 60-58 victory.

If any play could demonstrate Weimar’s dominance early in the season, it would be this one. With the game on the line, everyone in the building, including the five UMass players on the floor, knew the ball would be in her hands. She’d already scored 31 points. And she couldn’t be stopped. 

The senior from Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., is more than BU’s best player this season. She may be the best player in the Patriot League. Through nine games, she is averaging 17.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. She was named the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. In that season-opening win over the River Hawks, she posted a career-high 33 points.

“Every year that I’ve been in college, I’ve been growing,” Weimar says. “All the practices, film, everything has really shown it, and it has really helped me develop and be a better player every year.”

And in BU’s 80-77 home win over Harvard on December 9, she scored a game-high 29 points, including her 1,000th collegiate point (853 of them with BU, after transferring from Marist College).

“This was something I think we knew was going to happen,” BU head coach Melissa Graves said after Weimar hit the milestone. “She’s just affected this team in such a positive way on the floor, being so dominant and being a leader by example, but also off the floor, with her leadership.”

Weimar has become a matchup nightmare for opponents, and it starts with her dexterity with both hands.

“Usually we can scout a post and say, ‘Hey, force them left or force them right to their weak hand,’ but she really doesn’t have one,” Graves says. 

That means when Weimar gets the ball in the post, defenders must be prepared for a number of possible actions. She can spin inside for a layup, she can pound her defender down low and sink her signature hook shot—from the left or right side. She can score facing up to the hoop, she can get to the rim with a step-through move, she can punish sagging defenders with a smooth midrange jumper. And when opponents send double or triple teams, she can kick the ball to open shooters. 

Graves calls Weimar an “unstoppable force.” As a former three-year post player herself, at women’s college basketball powerhouse Notre Dame, the BU coach would know. 

Weimar has perfected the traditional aspects of post play—strong footwork and rebounding ability. But what has impressed Graves the most is that she’s shown the ability to play with a versatility and mobility that’s rare in a post player.

“She sprints up the floor like a gazelle. She’s able to play in and out around the rim, she has a soft touch around the rim,” Graves says. “All these things that are not always teachable were really special to me.” 

When Weimar was in middle school, she was one of the only forwards on her first AAU team. As a result, her team often ran drills that were catered to the guards on the team. “That kind of helped me widen my game,” she says. 

With those guard skills already baked into her game, as she grew taller she developed her full arsenal of post moves by working with her college coaches—like Graves—and playing against bigger and stronger opponents at the Division I level. 

After a strong freshman season at Marist, Weimar transferred to BU ahead of the 2021-2022 season, Graves’ first year as Terrier head coach. She was Graves’ first major addition after becoming BU’s head coach in April 2021. 

When Graves was an assistant coach at Yale more than five years ago, she saw Weimar, then an up-and-coming AAU star, play in New York. When Weimar entered the transfer portal after a year at Marist, Graves recruited her, relying on word-of-mouth. Everyone she spoke to—including a former AAU coach and the father of one of Weimar’s former teammates—had great things to say. So, Graves made an offer.

“You could see from watching her on film, her ceiling was very, very high, and you could do a lot with her,” she says. “As quick of a process as it is with the transfer portal, I felt really good knowing: one, she was a great player, check the box, but two, she was a really great person.” 

Weimar made an impact immediately. She was a regular starter her first year at BU, averaging 10.3 points and 8.7 rebounds. She bumped up the production to 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last year, leading the Terriers to a 24-9 record and becoming the second player in program history to average a double-double. 

In those two seasons, Weimar was a key part of a star-studded roster that featured an All-Patriot First-Teamer in guard Sydney Johnson (CAS’23) and a fellow standout post player in Maren Durant (Sargent’23). Since those players, among others, graduated last spring, she inherited the team’s leadership role.

“It gives me a position to help my team out,” she says of that role. “It gives me a position to lead everybody on the court as much as I can.”

Weimar is soft-spoken, and she leads by the example of her work ethic. But over time, she has grown into an empathetic leader who picks up her teammates when they’re down. She’s worked closely with Anete Adler (CAS’26), a fellow post-centric forward who transferred to BU from the University of Rhode Island this year. In a game early this season, Adler—a younger player growing into her role with the Terriers—hung her head after a mistake. 

“Immediately, Cait runs over and gives a high-five and says, ‘Hey, I believe in you. You got this. I trust you,’” Graves recalls. “In that moment, you see Anete spring up and her confidence comes back. And that’s so, so impactful.” 

Terrier guard Sophie Beneventine (CAS’24) has seen that impact day in and day out. “Caitlin has really stepped it up with helping our underclassmen close out and kind of leading them and showing them what it’s like to be a top post player, and not just in the Patriot League,” Beneventine says. 

When her time at BU concludes, Weimar says she hopes to pursue a professional basketball career, potentially in a league overseas. As she puts it: “Whatever I can do to just continue playing basketball.”

For now, she’s focused on helping the Terriers win their first-ever Patriot League title, and first NCAA Tournament berth since 2003, a feat the team came one win away from accomplishing last season.

“I’m here to play the game,” Weimar says, “and do anything I can to help the team win.”

The Terriers take on Emmanuel College at Case Gym Tuesday, December 12, with first tip at 6 pm. Tickets are free for students with a sports pass, $5 for faculty, staff, and students without a sports pass, and $8 for the general public. Fans can stream the action on ESPN+.