Instead of a traditional turkey dinner, the Boston University women’s basketball team decided to feast on Blue Hen over the holiday break, as the Terriers squeaked out of Case Gym yesterday afternoon with a 61-59 win over the off-color birds from the University of Delaware.
The last time the two teams squared off was March 8, 2001 with the Blue Hens dominating, 67-49. With yesterday’s win, however, the Terriers have cut Delaware’s all-time series lead to 19-7.
In a contest that featured nine ties and 13 lead changes, BU (2-1) handed the Blue Hens (3-1) their first loss of the season – a season during which Delaware had been beating opponents by an average of 21 points.
Four Terriers recorded double-digit points – senior guard Rachael Vanderwal (13), sophomore forward Kasey Devine (13), sophomore forward Corinne Jean (11) and freshman guard Christine Kinneary (10). Both Vanderwal and Devine had 10 rebounds, while Kinneary and Devine both dished out four assists.
“It was a really great team effort. Everyone played solid and stepped up when we needed them to,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg.
Despite the back-and-forth play, the Terriers fell behind by nine late in the second half and promptly crawled back out of it to tie the game at 57-57 with 2:33 left. Then things got interesting.
The Blue Hens failed to convert on their next four field goal attempts and couldn’t take advantage of six missed free throws by BU in the final two minutes.
Both Devine and Kovach hit one of two free throws to give the Terriers a 59-57 lead with 1:30 left. Junior guard Tyresa Smith and Alena Koshansky then missed field goals for Delaware, and the teams traded turnovers before Vanderwal drained two free throws with 12 seconds remaining.
The Blue Hens kept pecking, however, as Koshansky hit two of three from the charity stripe, narrowing the Terrier lead to 61-59.
As expected, Delaware fouled, sending Cheri Raffo to the line. The sophomore guard missed both attempts, but after her second miss clanked off the rim, Kinneary hauled in the rebound. A Blue Hen foul sent Kinneary to the line, where she missed both as well. But Delaware couldn’t send up a last prayer with two seconds left, and the Terriers preserved the victory.
“It’s not what you expect to do, but we gutted it out, and we got the rebound,” Greenberg said. “That was huge because that way, they couldn’t get a chance at another shot.”
Just like BU’s games leading up to this contest, the emphasis was placed on rebounding.
“Rachael and Kinneary have been rebounding the heck out of the ball,” Greenberg said.
“We’re not the biggest team,” she continued, “so if we can rebound well, we get to push the ball up the court, and that’s what we like to do.”
Smith led Delaware with a career-high 24 points to complement her four rebounds, five assists and five steals. Junior forward Chrissy Fisher recorded her third straight double-double, with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
“[Smith] played really well,” Greenberg said. “I think a good portion of her shots we defended well, but she was able to pull up over our defenders and take the shot.”
Both squads were practically identical in the box score as Delaware shot 39.7 percent from the field (25-for-63), grabbed 40 boards and turned the ball over 12 times, while BU hit 38 percent (19-for-50), gathered 40 rebounds and committed 15 turnovers.
“This was a great win for us,” Greenberg said. “Delaware is a very good school that is well-respected in the women’s basketball world.”
Up next: Wednesday night, when BU plays at Canisius College (2-1) at 6 p.m.