When the shots weren’t falling and an energetic defense was preventing any attempt at driving to the basket, the Boston University women’s basketball team put the game in the hands of its paint players.
Senior forward Caroline Stewart and sophomore forward Rashidat Agboola were the top contributors in Boston University’s 56-31 victory over Stony Brook University on Saturday. They combined for 26 points in the match and held the starting bigs from Stony Brook to a total of three.
Shortly after making a guest appearance as the singer of the pre-game national anthem, Stewart initiated the Terriers’ scoring with a tough layup, complete with the and-one foul shot. She continued to score consistently, playing efficiently under the hoop and hitting uncharacteristic jump shots from just inside the arc.
“That’s a tough thing for me because I’d rather have it on the block,” Stewart said. “But if they’re not going to play up then, yeah, we will take those [shots]. Anyone on our team will take that.”
At the final buzzer, the stat sheet showed a double-double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds next to Stewart’s name.
Before the end of the first half, Stewart’s aggression had yielded three fouls, and she was forced to spend some time on the bench.
Fortunately, the Terriers never missed a beat, as Agboola’s rebounding was unrivaled throughout. She grabbed a game-high 15 boards, and poured in 11 points to complete a double-double of her own.
“Rashidat went back in in the second half and was really rebounding like a monster in there,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg.
The defensive spark initiated by Agboola at the beginning of the second half gave the Terriers a much needed momentum boost. With an apparently unsatisfactory 23-15 lead, the Terriers took off on an 11-0 run.
Using a variation of press defense, BU forced Stony Brook to commit a total of 15 turnovers, and double-teams and corner-traps forced hasty passes and loose balls that Terriers turned into points.
“Talking is the key, I think, to most sports,” said Greenberg. “We have some people out there who are always talking. When we do switch it up, if they don’t feel like they have the time to get into that [defense], then it’s their call. They communicate with each other well on the court.”
Stewart and Agboola made it nearly impossible for the opposing big-women to score, either batting away feeds down low or swatting short shot attempts off the glass. Agboola alone finished with four blocks, three of which came in the second half. She now leads America East in blocks with 30.
“I think our top picked up, and our feet were moving,” said Stewart. “And we rebounded, which was extremely important.”
Despite the all-around dominant performance by BU, there were aspects of the game that didn’t go as well as planned. With senior guard Alex Young unable to convert from 3-point range, rebounding played an important role by providing second-chance looks at the basket. Stewart came down with two offensive rebounds and Agboola managed to accrue seven.
“I can’t talk enough about the two of them,” Greenberg said of her two starting forwards. “They’re very focused, they play really hard, they’re passionate. As the game went on and on, they figured it out and positive things happened for them.”
Efficiency was key for BU’s two occupiers of the paint. Agboola was successful on four of her seven attempts from the field (57.1 percent) and Stewart was 6-for-9 (66.7 percent), including a flawless 3-for-3 performance from the charity stripe.
“Good for those two,” Greenberg said. “They deserve it. They really work hard all of the time.”
