She leaps up and down. She rocks on the edge of her seat. She wildly waves a red-and-white pom-pom. Her 23-year-old son, James, just grins at her enthusiasm.

“Be careful, Mom,’’ he warned, as Patricia celebrated another BU basket yesterday afternoon.

Alford can’t help herself. When her daughter, sophomore guard Chantell Alford, is on the court, Patricia reacts to every assist, rebound, and shot. There were plenty of moments that lifted her out of her seat yesterday as BU defeated Vermont, 62-38, in the quarterfinals of the America East tournament at Chase Family Arena. Chantell scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, collecting the second double-double of her career.

The performance wasn’t unique for Chantell, who on Thursday became just the second Terrier to be named conference player of the year. In the league’s 25 years, only six sophomores were player of the year, and Alford is the third to receive the honor a year after being named the league’s top rookie.

“She has a unique ability to score on her own,’’ BU coach Kelly Greenberg said. “She can put it on the floor, pull up, shoot the three, and she can go to the basket. When you have a player who can do all of those things and play the point, it’s pretty special.’’

While living in West Haven, Patricia Alford drew on her high school basketball career to teach her only daughter the finer points of the game. She taught Chantell how to box out and rebound like a forward. She preached to never let an opponent get into your head because “once someone is in your head, they can beat you.’’

“My mom is very competitive and she kept her competitive spirit throughout her life and in everything she does,’’ Chantell said. “I appreciate it because it helped me growing up and even now.’’

Chantell was considered an unknown as she entered her senior year at Wilbur Cross High, with no offers from colleges. In 2008, Greenberg watched the 5-foot-8-inch guard and liked her ability to score. In October of that year, Greenberg drove 45 minutes south of West Hartford to meet the Alfords.

She was the only Division 1 coach to step into the Alfords’ living room that fall. Once BU offered a scholarship, Chantell immediately accepted.

“She turned to me and said, ‘Mom, I feel like I just ran a mile,’ and we were just sitting there on the couch,’’ Patricia Alford said. “She was so happy, and so was I.’’

Greenberg didn’t know Chantell would join fellow freshman Mo Moran as starters that season. Or that Chantell would average 14.9 points and five rebounds per game.

“In all honesty, we didn’t really have any expectations of Chantell early on until we had our individual workout with her in mid-September,’’ Greenberg said. “I remember turning to my assistants and saying, ‘Wow, she’s a lot better than we thought.’ She dove right into college basketball and was terrific as a freshman and continues to get better.’’

Chantell is averaging 15.3 points per game this season and shooting 42 percent on 3-pointers. Two weeks ago, Greenberg decided to put the ball in Chantell’s hands full time. It is a plan she’ll stick with through the postseason.

The second-seeded Terriers (16-13) will play Binghamton tomorrow at 11 a.m. It will be BU’s fourth consecutive semifinal appearance and Patricia Alford has her spot behind the bench picked out.

“I’m going to be right here,’’ she said, clutching her pom-pom.

Binghamton eliminated New Hampshire, 67-53, behind 20 points from Viive Rebane. At 19-11, the third-seeded Bearcats have matched the program record for wins in a season at the Division 1 level . . . Top seed Maryland-Baltimore County (20-10) survived a test from No. 8 Stony Brook, 74-65. Leading by just 6 at halftime, the Retrievers pulled away behind 26 points and 13 boards from Michelle Kurowski . . . No. 4 seed Hartford (15-15) will meet UMBC after a 48-43 win over No. 5 Albany. Ruthanne Doherty had 11 points and 12 boards.

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.