The Boston University women’s basketball team pulled off a come-from-behind victory to defeat the University of Missouri-Kansas City, 68-66, Saturday afternoon, leaving the Terriers as the only undefeated team in the America East.
Junior captain Cheri Raffo led BU in scoring with 17 points, while fellow captain Katie Meinhardt added 14 of her own. Kristi Dini had another impressive showing coming off the bench, scoring 13 points on 3-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc and 5-for-10 from the field.
The first half was dominated by UMKC (1-3), as the Terriers (2-0) were unable to create a steady offense. BU did not help its cause from the free throw line-shooting 6-for-12 from the stripe-while UMKC went 9-for-11 in the first half.
With three minutes to go in the half, the Kangaroos went up seven after a jumper from center Stephanie Brown-but BU was able to minimize the damage with a 7-2 run to make it 27-25 going into the locker room.
“I thought we came out a little flat on offense,” said Boston University coach Kelly Greenberg. “We executed offenses pretty well, but we weren’t knocking down shots.”
After the break the Terriers couldn’t shake their first-half slump, as they opened the second half with a missed jumper by Erika Kovach. Meanwhile the Kangaroos were sharp, jumping out again to a nine-point lead.
BU fought back, but with 14:40 left in the game, UMKC’s Brittany Picconi stole the ball and hit her third consecutive 3-pointer, making it a 44-34 game. Picconi’s shot gave the Kangaroos their largest lead of the afternoon.
After going down 10, BU finally got its offense to click. The Terriers worked the UMKC defense, passing the ball to the cutter for lay-up after lay-up. With 10 minutes to go in the half, Erica Kovach capped off the comeback with a jumper to tie the game at 46. After going back and forth with UMKC, freshman Kristen Folk hit a jumper in the paint with 6:24 left to give the Terriers the lead for good.
“A lot of our players were key to our comeback,” Greenberg said. “Katie Meinhardt had to play a lot of minutes against a team who was really pressuring the ball. Erica [Kovach] got the big rebounds we needed.”
Meinhardt led the team in minutes played and assists, sitting only two minutes and dishing out four helpers. Along with her game-tying jumper, Kovach grabbed 13 rebounds to go with her eight points and three assists.
Keeping their lead down the stretch did not prove to be easy for the Terriers. With just under a minute to play, UMKC’s Heather Wimberly hit a free throw to cut the lead to two. The Kangaroos retained possession after a turnover by freshman Aly Hinton with 25 seconds left.
UMKC let the game clock wind down, and with nine seconds left Stephanie Brown heaved up a desperation 3-pointer, which bounced long to seal the BU win.
“This definitely wasn’t one our better games and there is a lot of room for improvement,” Greenberg said. “But we were able to pull it out and we showed a lot of grit.”
That is not the only reason the win was bittersweet for the Terriers. Early in the second half, sophomore guard Christine Kinneary went down with a sprained ankle and did not return to the game. Kinneary will be evaluated Monday, and X-rays will determine whether or not she will be ready for BU’s upcoming game against Northeastern University.
Kinneary’s is just the most recent of the many injuries that has plagued the team early in the season. Last week, the Terriers learned they would be without sophomore Jesyka Burks-Wiley for two to four weeks due to a torn meniscus. Along with Kinneary and Burks-Wiley, junior Kasey Devine and sophomore Brianne Ozimok are also sidelined with injuries.
If Kinneary is unable to go against Northeastern, Greenberg said Meinhardt will start at point. Though it has not been announced, it is possible that Dini, BU’s star of the bench, will fill the empty guard position in the starting lineup.
Greenberg and the injury-plagued Terriers will next try to keep their record perfect against the 0-2 Huskies Tuesday at 5 p.m.