Rachael Vanderwal wasn’t on pace to break any records in the Boston University women’s basketball team’s 71-68 win over Northeastern University on Saturday. She left that distinction to Katie Terhune, whose 20 points against the Huskies put her three away from setting the school’s all-time scoring mark of 1,870 career points.
And Vanderwal certainly wasn’t expected to grab any of the spotlight either. In her previous four games, the sophomore guard had played a combined 25 minutes, took three shots and scored a total of zero points. And even more surprisingly, she didn’t even dish one assist – Vanderwal leads the team in the department with 55 helpers.
But after this weekend, don’t talk to the Terriers, or BU coach Margaret McKeon, about lack of production out of the 5-foot-9-inch, Canadian-born floor general. With senior Marisa Moseley joining the ranks of the wounded on the BU sideline with a knee injury, the headband-clad Vanderwal stepped up big in her place, coming off the bench to score 10 points on a team-high six of eight shooting from the free throw line.
“It looks like I should be playing her more, right?” McKeon asked with a laugh after the game. “I thought she could be a major factor in this game. I thought she was a major factor in the first game we played [against Northeastern]. She can handle the ball, she can get to the basket and she played solid defense.”
Vanderwal, who also pulled down five of the Terriers’ season-high-tying 47 rebounds against the Huskies, has been a solid – and often unnoticed – contributor all season. While she has played in all 23 of BU’s games this year, she’s only started nine, often sharing time with freshmen Meredith Onson and Nadia Bibbs at the point guard position.
But what sets Vanderwal apart from many others donning the scarlet and white is her ability to control the flow of the game. She leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (55-22), and while many of the Terriers couldn’t quite get a handle on the ball on Saturday en route to 20 turnovers – the most since they coughed up 29 against the Huskies on Jan. 24 – Vanderwal only turned it over once.
“She definitely came in and did a very good job just controlling and running the offense,” Terhune said. “Northeastern’s very scrappy. They’ll hustle and get on the floor.”
That type of intangible play may be just what BU needs with Moseley – who Vanderwal called the team’s “emotional leader” – out for at least the next couple of games. Although she didn’t have any of the squad’s 11 steals against the Huskies, Vanderwal is one of only five Terriers to post more than 30 swipes on the year.
And as McKeon pointed out, replacing BU’s senior leader may be just the job for her already-seasoned sophomore.
“I expected it from her, but I expect a lot out of all of them,” the coach said of the guard’s play. “That’s nothing new. ‘Mose’ is one of our best defenders on our team, and I think Rachael gives you that defense that we’re missing.”
Vanderwal also proved that she can handle the pressure late in the game. In the last five minutes of Saturday’s contest, she scored four of the team’s final 14 points, grabbed two big offensive rebounds and committed no turnovers. For a BU squad that relies just as heavily on its guard play as it does on that of its frontcourt, a solid point guard will be a very important part of a run at a second straight conference championship.
But while she may not have seen all the court time she would have liked over the past couple of weeks, Vanderwal said she just needed the opportunity to earn some solid minutes. And she certainly didn’t waste it with Boston bragging rights on the line against the Huskies.
“I just needed a boost – put me in and get in a couple good plays and feel good out there,” Vanderwal said. “Get my confidence back.”
She may have been a small part in last year’s success (averaging just 14 minutes and three points per game), but after this weekend’s performance, can we expect to see more of “Rae-Rae,” Coach McKeon?
“Obviously, she’s going to be playing more – period.”
Obviously.