After suffering from a crushing defeat at the hands of Stony Brook University, the Boston University women’s basketball team will be looking to bounce back when it faces off against last-place University at Albany tonight (7 p.m.).
The Terriers (12-12, 4-7 America East) had won two conference match-ups in a row before losing to second-place Stony Brook at home Feb. 10 in a game they led most of the way. Meanwhile, the Great Danes (7-17, 3-8) have lost six straight league games and seven of their last eight to leave them in sole possession of last place in the conference.
But BU coach Kelly Greenberg knows her team can’t afford to take any opponent lightly as the Terriers make their final push of the season.
“They’re going to be hungry,” Greenberg said. “No one wants to get their seventh-straight loss in a row. There’s going to be a big-time snow storm in Albany, its going to be the perfect setting for them to get a ‘W.’ We have to control what we can and make sure that doesn’t happen.”
In order to beat Albany, BU will need to play good team defense, as the Great Danes can get scoring from a number of different sources. Albany has six players on the roster averaging five points or more a game.
“I think their biggest strength is that when they have five girls on the court, most of the time they’re very interchangeable . . . which defensively does create a lot of mismatches,” Greenberg said. “So personnel-wise, they’re a tough team and they play very hard and they play together. Whenever you play that combination you have to be concerned that you bring your ‘A’ game.”
Senior guard Amanda Ward leads the Albany squad in scoring, averaging 11.2 points per game. The 5-foot-9 Connecticut native also leads the team in steals and assists and is third in rebounding.
“Ward is very good, she can score a variety of ways,” Greenberg said.
Then there is freshman guard Britney McGee, who leads Albany in 3-pointers made and is third on the team in scoring (8.9 ppg). It was McGee, not Ward, who led the Great Danes in scoring the last time these two teams played Jan. 14, with BU winning, 72-64, at Case Gymnasium.
“You can watch tape all you want, but once we saw [McGee] in warm-ups I was like ‘Wow,'” Greenberg said. “She has size, she’s strong – for a guard she was very impressive.”
Albany also boasts two 6-foot-4 players – a problem for a BU team that has struggled against size in the middle all season long. In their last game against SBU, it was the Terriers’ lack of rebounding that did them in, and with two tall girls on the other end tonight, rebounding could once again be the difference maker.
“Rebounding is always a concern. Its one of those things you can’t really practice, to be honest with you,” Greenberg said. “I always say if Dennis Rodman could rebound – the guy was not a good basketball player – but it’s just a mentality he had, ‘I’m going to get the ball.’ We need to make sure we have five BU people doing that at all times.”
Greenberg is hoping recently named America East Rookie of the Week Aly Hinton will help the Terriers inside. Although she has averaged 21.5 ppg in her last two games, she was only able to grab three rebounds for the Terriers in Saturday’s loss.
“She has been playing really well offensively, and as I talked with her today, she just has to make sure that whether we’re zone or man that she’s an inside presence on the boards, which she was at Vermont,” Greenberg said.
All this adds up to what could be a dangerous game for the Terriers. But Greenberg does not think her team will be looking past the last-place Great Danes.
“I don’t know the standings, I don’t know people’s records, I just know Albany is tough,” Greenberg said. “I know that their coach has been out for three weeks and this is her coming back game and they’re going to be emotionally charged. This is the type of game, because we did have such a tough loss on Saturday, that we need to come back and make sure we feel good about how we’re playing.”