Tonight, the Terriers meet Canisius, an NCAA Tournament qualifier last year. Dominick ReuterFour games into the season and already it’s time for a critical match-up. When the Boston University women’s basketball team goes for its third win in a row against the Canisius College Golden Griffins tonight, it will be their first game against an NCAA Tournament qualifier from last year.
The Griffins were awarded a No. 15 seed after winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, and they finished with a record of 21-10. Much to the dismay of the Blue and Gold, they drew a first round match-up against second-seeded Duke University and dropped the contest, 80-48.
“They’re an NCAA Tournament team from last year, so we’re going to have a lot of energy coming in,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg.
As if the quality of opponent alone weren’t enough to get the Terriers excited for the game, Canisius will also be honoring their 2005 championship squad with a ring ceremony and unveiling of the championship banner before the game.
“They called us before hand to let us know they’d be doing that,” Greenberg said. “It makes us more aware of how big of a game this is. We just want to go into their building and knock them off.”
Unfortunately, knocking off Canisius at the Koessler Athletic Center has been a very difficult task for most teams lately. The Griffins are 9-3 in their last 12 home games, and won their only home game this season by 30, adding another win to their 193-87 (.693) all-time record in Buffalo, N.Y.
Senior guard Becky Zak, last year’s MAAC Tournament MVP, holds the most experience at Canisius. Coming off a 12.9 points per game year (in which she added 139 assists), she’s followed it up this year, averaging 6.7 assists per game. Junior forward Megan Lyte leads the way in scoring, averaging 16 points per game.
“She’s a 6-foot-1 forward who scores a lot,” Greenberg said. “We focused our defense on containing her.”
But the defense will have to make sure not to pay too much attention to Lyte. The Griffins pose a great threat from beyond the 3-point arc, having drained at least one 3-pointer in their last 334 games – a streak that dates back to Jan. 8, 1993.
Not all of the statistics side with the Griffins, however, as Canisius is 3-8 all-time against America East opponents, with its most recent loss coming last Saturday to Binghamton University, 93-86, in overtime.
This is the first time ever that these two teams will tip-off. Couple BU’s momentum after a high-energy, quality win with Canisius’ 3-12 record when meeting non-conference opponents for the first time and the Terriers may not be such underdogs.
BU will also look to exploit the Griffins’ susceptibility to fouling. In its last game, Canisius set a new school record by committing 36 personal fouls, and it’s likely that the Terriers worked on their foul shooting in practice after making only 65.4 percent in their win over the University of Delaware.
Senior captain Rachael Vanderwal, fresh off her America East co-Player of the Week selection, won’t take any pressure off the Griffins’ defense. On the year to date, the talented guard is averaging 16.3 points per game, and 7.3 boards per contest.
Vanderwal’s co-captain, junior guard Katie Meinhardt, played nine minutes in the Terriers’ last game and seems to be getting back into the swing of things. The preseason All-Conference first-teamer, when fully healthy, should flood the court with energy.
Whether or not Meinhardt sees a lot of action, the Terriers have simply been competing as a complete team in their contests thus far.
“The best kind of win to have is from a team effort,” Greenberg said. “Different games offer different outcomes. But as long as you get the ‘W,’ that’s all that really matters.”
