Senior Erica Kovach leads BU against the 1st place Hawks. Sarah Gatzke
Cheri Raffo will need to have a big game against Hartford today. Sarah GatzkeYou could say that the Boston University women’s basketball team has developed quite a rivalry with the University of Hartford over the past two years. However, even the most diehard Terriers fan would have to admit this rivalry has been a bit one-sided.
Hartford has beaten the Terriers all six times the squads have met in the past two years, including two America East championship games. The last time the Terriers beat the Hawks was Feb. 7, 2004, when BU downed Hartford, 72-62.
And the reeling Terriers will not come by revenge easily today at Case Gymnasium at 11:00 a.m. BU (10-10, 2-5 America East) has stumbled out of gate in conference play this season, while Hartford (13-7, 6-1) is right where everyone expected them to be — at the top of the conference.
“We’re just going to play them as any other team,” said junior guard and tri-captain Cheri Raffo. “We need to get on a roll, and it’s good to start with them because we have a little animosity toward them.”
BU will need to bank on the home-court advantage that has served them well this season to propel them past the Hawks. The Terriers are 2-1 in conference play and 5-2, overall, inside the friendly confines of both Case and Agganis Arena.
“It’s always nice to play home,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg. “I think it will be a nice environment. I think it’s a good time for us. No matter what we have to be up, but I think because it’s Hartford, our team will be ‘extra-up.’”
Today’s match-up will pit the conference’s stingiest scoring defense — Hartford (52.6 ppg allowed) — against America East’s worst scoring defense by over six points per game (70.1 ppg allowed)
Greenberg says the Hawks’ conference domination has a lot to do with their impressive defensive numbers.
“They keep it a half-court game — that helps them with points allowed,” she said. “They cut the minutes in half really. Defensively we’re going to try to make them hurry and maybe make them take early shots. And we just worked a lot on our offenses.”
The Terriers will need senior tri-captain Katie Meinhardt to rediscover her scoring touch if they want to break the Hawks’ dominating defense. Meinhardt, the conference’s seventh leading scorer, is averaging 13.4 points per game, but in BU’s last three games, the senior guard has scored just six, six and three points, respectively. BU has a 1-2 record over that stretch.
“She’s been pressing a little bit, getting frustrated,” Greenberg said. “I think her scoring effort has gone down, one, because teams are focusing on her, and two, because she’s getting frustrated.”
The Terriers will also have to contain junior forward/center Danielle Hood if they hope to escape from Case with their third conference victory of the season. A unanimous selection to last year’s all-conference team and this year’s preseason all-conference team, Hood is averaging 12.6 ppg to go with 4.1 rebounds per game. And more importantly, Hood has shone where Meinhardt and the Terriers have struggled this season — in conference play. The junior has scored 17 ppg in America East play, which is third in the conference.
“They have a great player — the best player in the league in Danielle Hood,” Greenberg said. “Size-wise, she’s bigger than everyone in the conference and she’s so mobile. She makes them the team they are.”
Hood presents a matchup problem for the undersized Terriers, who have struggled this season against talented forwards and centers.
“Our Achilles’ heel has been our post presence inside,” Greenberg said. “Teams are bigger than us. We have to help inside and hopefully not foul as much.”
The Terriers also hope sophomore Amarachi Umez-Eronini will continue to give them solid contributions off the bench. The agile guard has scored in double figures in each of the last two Terrier games and has seen her playing time increase significantly.
“She just continues to bring us energy,” Greenberg said. “She makes things happen. In all honesty, she’s been great.”
