Despite the city’s below-freezing temperatures, the Boston University women’s basketball team is feeling like it might catch fire. Now in the heart of the 2005-06 season, the Terriers are hoping their momentum extends into conference play.
The Terriers (9-5, 2-1 America East) take on Stony Brook University (9-5, 2-1) Wednesday, with hopes to avenge last year’s 65-79 loss at the SBU Sports Complex.
“I always say that we’re as good as our last game and we’re as good as our next game,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg. “Every game is so important. We went down to their place last year and they kicked our butts. They killed us.”
The Terriers had the last laugh, however, taking out Stony Brook University, 85-74 in last year’s conference tournament, behind a 43-point performance from guard Katie Meinhardt.
The Terriers enter the game having won their last contest, a 77-68 match against Binghamton University. After scoring just 25 points in the first half, BU went on a roll after halftime, picking up 52 points and shooting 48.5 percent from the field.
“When we play with energy, we can play with anyone,” Greenberg said. “I don’t need to get our players up. They’re self-motivated and they should be. We just know that we need to go in there and play our game.”
After being picked to finish second in the America East Preseason Coaches poll, some of the Terriers have begun to feel more pressure, now that the season is more than halfway completed.
“There definitely is [more pressure] because other teams are looking at your box scores, looking at statistics,” said forward Erica Kovach. “But every game we just think to ourselves, ‘It starts with defense’ and ‘let’s play our game.'”
But the Terriers don’t need any extra hype to prepare for games, according to Greenberg.
“And that’s what we want, whether we’re in practice against each other or we’re in a game,” Greenberg said. “I don’t think any team is good enough to say ‘Now we’re going to turn it on.’ You just have to bring it everyday.”
Kovach has become an increasingly important part of the Terriers’ game this season. The junior wing has averaged 20.7 points per game since being moved into the starting lineup on Jan. 7. After missing her first four 3-point attempts of Saturday’s game, Kovach went 4-for-6 from behind the arc in the second half.
The Terriers’ offense has been inconsistent of late. Meinhardt and Vanderwal, who together average 22 points per game, were both held scoreless in BU’s 58-70 loss to the University of Hartford on Jan. 11. Raffo netted 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting to keep the Terriers in the game.
But on Saturday, the scoring plague hit Raffo. The sophomore guard collected two points after going 1-for-6 from the field.
Being aggressive on the boards has been the key to the Terriers success this season. BU is 8-1 in games where they outrebound its opponent. The Terriers are 0-5 when their opponents lead the attack on the boards.
“We have to look at defense,” Kovach said. “Every time we did what our coaches said, we got defensive stops. As long as we keep doing that, I think we’ll be good.”
Kasey Devine leads the Terriers in rebounds with 7.2 boards per game. Vanderwal and Kovach are next with 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 rebounds per game, respectively.
Tonight’s game at Stony Brook marks the ninth time in 10 games that the Terriers have been on the road. The Terriers return to The Roof Saturday to take on the University of Vermont.