The Boston University women’s basketball team has seen major contributions coming from a variety of players over the last few games.
While this shows BU’s (1-5) scoring versatility as a team, it is concerning that the team doesn’t have a clear top scorer to rely on late in games.
The Terriers’ leading scorer this season is senior guard Sarah Hope, who averages 12 points per game. Yet, Hope scored significantly below her average against Harvard University (seven points) and the University of Massachusetts Lowell (eight points.)
Junior forward Kara Sheftic is the second leading scorer on the team, averaging nine points per contest. The Essex Junction, Vermont native may be the most consistent scorer on the team. Her season-high was 13 points against Boston College, and she has yet to score below seven points in a game thus far. Sheftic has shown steady improvement from game to game, as she has improved her field goal percentage in each of the last three tilts.
Senior forward Meghan Green was BU’s leading scorer with 16 points against the Crimson (5-1), but she only tallied four points against the River Hawks (0-7). On Monday, against the University of New Hampshire, her offensive woes continued, as she went scoreless for the first time all season.
While BU head coach Katy Steding is pleased to see her team share the wealth on offense, she’s insistent that they need to find primary scorers that they can count on.
“I’m glad we have different players that can put up the numbers, but we need to be more consistently going to our main-stay folks,” Steding said.
BU continues to struggle on the road
The defeat prolonged the Terriers’ winless record thus far away from Case Gym. This season’s early road struggles are similar to the problems Steding’s side had last year.
In the 2015-16 season, Terriers went 1-14 on the road en route to a 3-27 finish, the worst in Steding’s three seasons at the helm.
The Terriers have continued to improve each game this year, but they have yet to prove that they can play well on a consistent basis away from Case Gym.
Terriers squander early leads
In the first quarter of its matchup with the State University of New York at Albany, BU was outscored 25-5 in the first quarter, and went on to lose 69-54. Since then, the Terriers have been resilient. In the past three contests, BU came out of the first quarter with leads.
“In the first few games, we would dig ourselves a hole,” Steding said. “We’d spend the entire game trying like heck to climb out of it.”
Against Harvard, the Terriers jumped out to a 16-8 lead after the first period. However, they were outscored for the remainder of the game and allowed 41 points in the second half.
In addition, the Terriers’ field goal percentage decreased from approximately 44 percent in the first half to 35 percent in the second half, while the Crimson shot better in the latter half, improving from 38 percent to 54 percent.
Even in BU’s lone victory over the Lowell last Saturday, the same thing happened.
After one quarter of play, the Terriers were leading 12-10. Although they did not relinquish the advantage, they did suffer a near-collapse in the second half, surrendering 40 points after allowing only 16 in the first 20 minutes.
On Monday night against UNH (4-2), BU once again held an early 16-9 lead. A 17-6 Wildcats run in the second quarter, followed by a 33-point second half, propelled them to a 59-51 victory.
Despite the blown leads, Steding is happy that her team has remained competitive down to the wire.
“It’s nice to be in a position that we’re battling in the second half, even though we haven’t strung four great quarters together yet,” Steding explained. “This team doesn’t give up, and that’s something that I’ve noticed that’s a positive.”
