The Boston University women’s basketball team will hit the road on Wednesday and try to continue its undefeated performance in conference play. The Terriers will play the University of New Hampshire on UNH’s home court in Durham, NH.
“UNH has two great players Morgan Frame and Denise Belleview,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg. “These players can do a lot of things, they’re very dangerous . . . They’ll be a very different team on their home turf.”
BU (19-6, 12-0 America East) is coming off a 56-31 win over Stony Brook University last weekend, a victory that continued its unblemished start to conference play.
Although the Terriers struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, they drowned the Seawolves’ offense with good defense, holding them to just 31 points, the lowest total for a BU opponent this season.
Senior forward Caroline Stewart opened the game scoring seven of BU’s first 11 points. Junior guard Chantell Alford knocked in a 3-pointer to give the Terriers a 14-5 lead at 11:55 in the first half, but back-to-back jumpers by senior Whitney Davis brought the Seawolves within five. Despite its best efforts, Stony Brook trailed the Terriers 23-15 going into the break.
The Terriers built a 19-point lead in the first seven minutes of the second half before Stony Brook could get on the board. The Seawolves cut BU’s lead to 35-19 at the 11-minute mark, but the Terriers quickly opened up a 20-point margin, 43-23, with just 6:20 left to play.
Junior forward Jacqueline Kuczynski came off the bench to sink a shot from beyond the arc while freshman guard Troi Melton hit a pair of free throws to give BU the victory.
The Terriers sailed past Stony Brook with the help of a stellar offense, an offense that recorded two double-doubles for the first time since early in the 2010-11 season.
Stewart led the team with a season-high 15 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore forward Rashidat Agboola posted her team-leading fifth double-double. She grabbed a game-best 15 rebounds while netting 11 points.
But BU isn’t the only team cruising into Wednesday’s game after a win. UNH (13-11, 6-6 American East) swept past the University of Vermont 58-48 this past Saturday.
Senior Denise Beliveau recorded a game-high 17 points and four steals, while fellow senior Kelley Flynn grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
The Wildcats shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the field and 35.3 percent from long range to secure the win.
UNH collected eight straight points in the first half to take the lead 15-8. The Wildcats led going into the half, and although UVM posted a good effort, the Catamounts did not come back in the second half.
The Wildcats and the Terriers last tangled at Case Gymnasium earlier this season where the on-point canines bested their foes by 40 point, 79-39.
“UNH is a very good team,” Greenberg said. “Our players didn’t see it in the last game so our mental toughness has to be smart. We have to realize that they had an off game [and we have to] be prepared for their guards. Beliveau can shoot a three and she has a lot of different weapons.”
Alford was named America East Player of the Game after scoring a team-high of 17 points and grabbing six rebounds. The junior led four players in double digits as senior guard Alex Young posted 15 points, junior forward Mo Moran netted 10 points and Agboola posted her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
All 13 players on the active roster saw action as the Terriers claimed their sixth straight win of the season. Six games later, the Terriers are looking to claim their 13th win, once again against the Wildcats.
“We really killed them [last time],” Greenberg said. “But it’s not any indication of how tomorrow’s game is going to be.”
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