Henry Ford once said, ‘Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.’ Now this applies to any collection of people that strive toward a goal, whether it is an athletic team, a group of business executives or a set of employees at your favorite fast-food joint (you know the fries are always hotter and tastier when everyone behind that counter is on the same wavelength). While our Beanpot champs may have a little something to say about meshing as a unit on the ice, there’s another Terrier troupe that already is figuring it out on the hardwood.
With the passage of time, Ford’s words may seem hollow to some, but looking at the way the Boston University women’s basketball team has been playing lately, you have to think that these ladies are taking to heart a similar attitude to the one expressed by the innovative automaker.
Wins over conference adversaries Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton, New Hampshire and strong and encouraging performances against national big gals Vanderbilt and Stanford, have given the women’s b-ball team hopes of doing some damage in postseason play.
In conference, Coach McKeon’s team is 7-3, and with exactly one month to go until the start of the America East quarterfinals, the Terriers are getting solid play from many different outlets. The team’s ability to learn from its mistakes should be the deciding factor in how their playoff fortunes pan out.
In losing to a powerful Maine team 59-37, the Terriers looked like they were shooting with one hand tied behind their backs (interesting trick that it be). After dropping that decision to the still-unbeaten conference leaders, Katie Terhune and the bunch have come back ready to play, swishing and dishing, dropping the three-ball and playing pickpocket with opposing offenses. If they keep it up, this just might be the most dramatic and exciting season in recent memory.
Terhune is averaging 17 points a game, good enough for third in the league, and she’s letting her talent rub off on her frosh partner on the perimeter. The proficient pair of Terhune and freshman Katie Meinhardt has done all right for themselves, with Meinhardt not just chipping in on offense with close to 10 points a game, but also displaying an overall spark that has helped her receive America East rookie of the week honors. She’s earned that nod three times already this season, making her the last Terrier to do so since (yeah, you guessed it) Katie Terhune.
With Marisa Moseley stealing the ball, blocking shots and pulling down boards, Ali Argentieri wheeling and dealing, Larissa Parr and Adrienne Norris getting points in the paint and the possible development of the Spanish sprout Amparo Lopez, the only thing standing in the way of the Terriers is themselves. They’ll go as far as the team is willing to take them, and if the Katie and Katie pairing at the guard spot have anything to do with it, this team will go quite far. Did anybody say NCAA tournament?
If this indeed will be the season that marks the first time the BU women make it into that vaunted promised land that is the NCAAs, they’ll need not only the players clicking on all cylinders, but all the support and encouragement from their fans as well. Right now, the team is getting a little more than 400 enthusiasts at ‘The Roof’ for each game. That number should be doubled (which can be done, as seen in the Vanderbilt and Stanford games). The way they’ve been playing is great, and you couldn’t ask for much more, but this team needs a raucous group of fans to make opponents uneasy and hesitant every time they make the trip to Babcock Street.
With last night’s 93-51 victory, you can tell that this team is hitting stride at just the right time.
Coach McKeon certainly has to agree with that, and now the question on everyone’s minds should be, how will this year’s team be any different than previous incarnations and finally make it into the NCAAs? If they can keep the inconsistency out of their game, continue to force turnovers, find points from the Katie tandem and in the paint, they can play with and beat every team in America East. Last night’s win gives the Terriers a stronger hold on second place, behind undefeated Maine.
With six games left in the regular season, it’s time to start taking every day, every practice and every play with an eye toward the playoffs. This team must continue to play well to close out the season, as they hope to shed bad memories of years past and solidify a new chapter in BU women’s basketball history.
On March 8, the ladies travel up to Orono to close out the regular season, and there they will face the final test against the top team in conference. After that, Coach McKeon gets a chance to have her Terriers take the America East title down in Hartford.
Henry Ford may have known a lot about working with other people in order to achieve great things, but do his words have anything to do with a basketball team?
We’ll certainly find out in the next couple of weeks.
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