The Boston University women’s basketball team placed third in the Verizon Wireless ASU Classic over the weekend, dropping its first match to Arizona State University, 75-53, Friday, before toppling Eastern Michigan University, 65-59, the next day.
The Terriers (4-3) began their trip to Arizona with a matchup against the No. 14/12 Sun Devils. Sophomore forward Jesyka Burks-Wiley made her season debut for the Terriers, scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 15 minutes, but BU could not avoid becoming ASU’s sixth victim of the season, as the Sun Devils improved to 6-1 on the year with their 22-point victory.
Nevertheless, BU coach Kelly Greenberg was impressed with the play of Burks-Wiley, who originally was not supposed to play until the Terriers’ matchup with Brown this Wednesday.
“It was unbelievable,” Greenberg said. “She looked like she was in midseason form.”
The only other Terrier in double digits was freshman forward Aly Hinton, who put up 10 points to go with five rebounds in 28 minutes.
“Aly had an unbelievable weekend for a freshman,” Greenberg said.
BU fell behind early when ASU started the game on a 12-0 run, including eight points from sophomore point guard Briann January. But the Terriers fought back, scoring 10 straight points to cut the deficit to two, behind two three-pointers from Hinton.
However, by halftime, the Sun Devils had built up a 30-20 lead. ASU then opened the second half with a 16-7 run to take a commanding 46-27 lead. The Terriers battled to keep the game close, closing the gap to 54-42 with 8:19 left to play, but Arizona State scored seven straight points and BU never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.
“We did a lot of great things against a ranked team,” Greenberg said. “If we did some things differently we had a chance against them. It was a bunch of little things that added up quickly. We didn’t shoot very good free throws and missed a number of lay-ups.”
The Terriers shot 11-for-23 from the charity stripe and only 36 percent from the field. ASU, on the other hand, hit 21-of-30 free throws and shot 41.7 percent from the field.
The loss was the Terriers’ second straight defeat at the hands of a ranked opponent. BU lost earlier in the week to UConn 84-51.
On Saturday, BU rebounded from its tournament-opening loss with a victory over Eastern Michigan (2-3). The Terriers were led by the play of all-tournament team selection and senior forward Erica Kovach, who put up a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Kovach hit three free throws in the final 35 seconds of the game to help the Terriers secure their fourth win of the season.
“Erica needs to be on the court,” Greenberg said, referencing that her captain was only able to play 14 minutes against ASU because of foul trouble. “She had huge rebounds late and some big free throws.”
The Terriers opened the game with a different starting lineup than they had been using all season, replacing sophomore guard Christine Kinneary with classmate Kristi Dini.
“We had three losses in a row and wanted to mix things up,” Greenberg said. “She’s earned that spot.”
BU started the game strongly, jumping out to a 17-6 lead to start the game. The scoring would slow down, and at halftime the Terriers went into the locker room with a 27-20 lead.
BU came out firing in the second half as well, building a 45-33 lead. But EMU would rally to take its first lead since early in the first half, capping the run on a Patrice McKinney lay-up with 7:51 left in the game to give the Eagles a 52-51 advantage.
The Terriers would respond quickly, however, as Kovach hit two free throws just seconds later to reclaim the lead. BU would not relinquish the lead again.
“We didn’t take care of the ball,” Greenberg said. “We had some turnovers, but we responded well. The girls really buckled down.”
Hinton led the team with 14 points, and also pulled down six rebounds. It was her third impressive game in a row, with the other two both coming against nationally ranked teams.
“She’s got a wonderful feel for the game,” Greenberg said. “She does the little things. She can be one of the best at BU.”
Also in double figures for the Terriers was junior guard Cheri Raffo (13 points) and senior guard Katie Meinhardt (11).
The Terriers were glad to leave Arizona with a win, considering the tournament featured three teams that made the postseason last year.
“Whenever you’re away you’re always pleased with a victory,” Greenberg said. “We knew we had to come out with at least one win.”