Teams around the America East know the Boston University women’s basketball team features three of the best guards in the conference with its freshman tandem of Chantell Alford and Mo Moran, and sophomore Alex Young.
But when the Terriers (11-10, 7-2) play host to Binghamton University (8-13, 4-4) tonight at Case Gymnasium, they will look to a trio of forwards ‘- senior Aly Hinton, junior Kerry Cashman and sophomore Caroline Stewart ‘- to neutralize Binghamton’s rebounding game, which ranks fourth in the conference.
‘[Binghamton] definitely hits the boards a lot,’ said BU coach Kelly Greenburg, after yesterday’s practice. ‘We talk about rebounding all the time, so I didn’t talk about it any more than other games.’
The Terriers hope to snag more rebounds by switching from their customary 2-3 zone defense to a man-to-man setup.
‘We’re going to mix up our defenses a little bit,’ Greenburg said. ‘Last game [against Binghamton] we played 40 minutes of zone. This game we’ll mix it up a little bit.’
The Bearcats come to The Roof armed with one of the premier frontcourt players in the conference in sophomore Viive Rebane. The 6-foot forward ranks sixth in the conference in rebounding (7.2 rpg), good for six spots ahead of BU’s leading rebounder, Hinton (6.0 rpg).
Look for BU to play their three forwards ‘- Hinton, Cashman and Stewart ‘- all at once to maximize their rebounding.
‘We have done that this year in games a couple of times, and we like it,’ Greenburg said. ‘We really do like it, especially if we’re playing zone because we don’t have to worry about their quickness matching up with someone on the perimeter like in [man-to-man]. We have talked a lot about that.
‘If the other team is playing man, offensively, Aly is smart enough to be able to run around, for instance, from the guard spot.’
After tonight’s game, BU will enjoy its longest break since mid-December. The Terriers have survived a long stretch of games with few off days, including matchups with the top-two ranked teams in the conference ‘- the University of Hartford and the University of Vermont ‘- in a three-day span.
‘February is so much better than January,’ Greenburg said. ‘Our games are spaced out nicer. It makes a big difference. This past Sunday was the first Sunday they’ve had off since they went home for the holidays.’
The Terriers hope to sweep the season series with Binghamton after winning their first game against them on Jan. 7, a 68-57 victory in Vestal, N.Y. Binghamton would become the second team this week to get swept by BU, as the Terriers beat the University of Maine 56-49 this past Saturday at Case.
In its first matchup against the Bearcats this season, BU held on for an 11-point win in a back-and-forth contest. The Terriers held a five-point lead with just under 1:30 remaining and closed out the game by hitting nine free throws.
Young and Hinton led BU with 20 and 17 points, respectively. Young also contributed seven rebounds and Moran pulled down a team-high eight boards.
The Terriers hit 18-of-25 free throws in the second half alone and shot 73 percent from the charity stripe for the game.
Rebane hauled in a game-high 15 rebounds for the Bearcats, including 11 offensive boards to go along with 14 points and five steals.
‘There’s nothing about [Binghamton] that our players don’t know,’ Greenburg said. ‘We’re very much into being prepared for the game, but not over-preparing. We’re keeping our practices nice and short, but we’re getting a lot accomplished.’