Maybe winning is contagious.
The Boston University Women’s Basketball Team led a three-win afternoon for Terrier Athletics on Sunday afternoon with a 76-63 victory over Northeastern University. As BU celebrated three wins in a span of three hours, the women began the day with a very important conference win.
Following a recent slide, during which the team lost six of nine games, including three of its first four in conference, the Terriers needed this game badly.
Sometimes the games that you are supposed to win are the toughest, but as the Terriers (9-7, 2-2 America East) aim to become a conference contender, they will need to win all of the easy ones and a few of the tough ones.
The Huskies (3-14, 1-5) put up a serious fight, even tying the game at 50 with nine minutes to go, but coach Margaret McKeon’s squad showed another important trait down the stretch: the ability to put a team away.
As usual, sophomore Katie Terhune started and ended the attack that put the game out of reach. Her three-pointer with the game tied began an 18-4 Terrier run, while a steal and layup ended the Terrier scoring. BU was able to double up the Huskies over the last nine minutes, outscoring NU 26-13.
Following a season in which not one Terrier was named Conference Player of the Week, Katie Terhune was honored as America East Conference player of the week for the third time this season. Her 35 points against Northeastern was a career high, eclipsing the 33-point outburst against Yale University that earned her the honor a month ago. Terhune leads the conference with an average 19.6 points per game, is third in free throw percentage and ranks among the top 15 in steals, three-point percentage, three-pointers made and defensive rebounds.
Sophomore Courtney Jones, who missed some practice time and some exhibition games at the beginning of the year due to a hand injury, has shown lately the skills she can bring to the Terriers. Jones is proving to be a viable scoring option from the point guard spot, especially behind the three-point arc. Shooting three-of-four from three-point land on Sunday, Jones chipped in 13 points and helped spark a first-half Terrier run. Other than Terhune, Jones was the only other Terrier in double figures.
Coach McKeon should be happy with the team’s drastic improvement from both the three-point arc and free-throw line this season. After shooting well below 70 percent from the charity stripe in the first two games of the year, BU shot 20-of-23 (87 percent) on Sunday against NU. They were just as strong from about five feet farther out. With an eight-of-15 showing from three-point land, the Terriers actually had a better percentage from the arc, 53 percent, than from the field. Terhune and Jones shot a combined seven-of-nine, while senior Dia Dufault added the other three-ball.
If the Terriers plan to compete in the America East, McKeon will need her bench to log some quality minutes. Sunday’s game was a perfect example of how invaluable a solid bench can be. Northeastern only used two reserves, with six players logging over 25 minutes. BU, on the other hand, went five-deep off the bench. Terhune had 36 minutes; Jones had 32 off the bench as McKeon stuck with her hot shooting touch, while nine of 10 players played over 10 minutes.
The State Universities of New York make Case Gym their home away from home for the rest of the week. The Terriers will host SUNY-Albany on Thursday night at 7 p.m. and wrap up the homestand against SUNY-Binghamton on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Albany (4-10, 0-3 America East) is coming off an eight-point loss to the University of New Hampshire on Saturday, while Binghamton (13-3, 4-1 America East) is currently on a four-game winning streak and is leading the America East Conference.
Sunday’s win over Northeastern improved BU’s record to 2-5 this month. While they expect better, the mark does exceed the team’s lowly 0-8 record last January. The Terriers — who led by 11 at the half on Sunday — upped their record to 9-2 on the year when leading at the half. The team is 0-5 when trailing at the half. Freshman Larissa Parr was 3-of-5 from the field in only 11 minutes of action on Sunday. Parr leads the team in field-goal percentage, connecting at 49.2 percent. For the first time this year, all 10 Terriers snagged at least one rebound. Terhune led the way with six, while sophomore Marisa Moseley, freshman Adrienne Norris, Jones and Dufault added four apiece.
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