Agboola records 1,000th career point

For the Boston University women’s basketball team, Saturday’s game against Bucknell University was worth more than just another notch in the win column.

The Terriers (8-13, 3-5 Patriot League) defeated the Bison (10-8, 5-3 Patriot League) in convincing fashion, putting up a season-high 86 points.

Twenty-five of those points came from senior forward Rashidat Agboola who was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.  In doing so, the Massachusetts native became the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 points in her career at BU.

“We’re glad that’s over with,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg on Agboola’s milestone. “It was kind of out there for a while. She could have gotten it this game or the next or the next.”

When asked about her individual achievement, Agboola was quick to turn the attention to her team and the day’s victory.

“Well, it’s nice because we got a win,” Agboola said. “We were playing a really good team tonight, so it was a really good team win, and I’m really excited about it.”

Since she has been a part of the women’s basketball team, Agboola has been one of the top players in the program. As a freshman, she played in 29 games for BU, averaging close to three points per game, leading the team in field-goal percentage at 51.5 percent.

Agboola became a leading contributor to the team’s offense in her sophomore campaign when she started in all but one game, leading the team again in field-goal percentage with a 45.6 percent success rate while posting 10.1 points a game, which was good for third on the team behind former guards Chantell Alford and Mo Moran, who had 12.4 and 10.9 per game, respectively.

For her efforts during her second year at BU, she was named to the All-Conference Third Team in the America East Conference.

Last year during her junior campaign, Agboola started every game and was named tri-captain along with Moran and senior guard Danielle Callahan. She secured her spot as the second leading scorer on the team with 350 total points and an average of 11.7 per game, helping the Terriers advance to the second round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, while earning All-Conference First Team honors.

This season, as a senior, the Methuen native has put it all together, which has culminated in a spectacular statistical season. She has continued to thrive on the court for BU, and leads the team in total points (261), points per game (12.4) and rebounds (150). She has put up two double-doubles this season, and has now posted three straight games of double-digit point totals.

With the departure of offensive powerhouses Alford and Moran, Agboola has adjusted accordingly, stepping into a bigger role on the team.

“It’s a big change,” Agboola said. “I played with [Alford and Moran] for three years so it’s definitely different for us and the team, but we’ve been adjusting. We have a lot of good players on the team, and we’re ready to pick it up the second half of the Patriot League.

For Agboola, playing for the Terriers is something she said she is grateful for because she had not ever pictured herself at BU or anticipated the friendships she would make.

“I never would have thought I’d be here in this position,” Agboola said. “I’m really, really thankful to have met so many of my closest friends and to have the opportunity to play a high level basketball. I’m really appreciative of it, and I just want to finish out the season strong.”

Greenberg had nothing but good things to say about her forward, praising her throughout the season, especially on Saturday in wake of her accomplishment.

“Rashidat is just someone who succeeds because of hard work,” Greenberg said. “She’s not the most offensive player, and she’s not in the game to score a lot of points. She just really chips away at it, plugs away, and it’s hard work and rebounds. Today she got to the basket pretty well, and it was great… She deserves everything she gets.”