UConn a formidable date for Terriers’ first Dance

At 4 p.m. on Thursday, it looked like the 12 members of the Boston University women’s basketball team would be spending their Sunday afternoon winding down after a disappointing end to their season. Northeastern University had just extended its lead over BU to 14 points with less than six minutes left in the quarterfinal game of the America East Tournament and the Terriers looked all but eliminated from further play.

How quickly things change. Just over 72 hours and three huge wins later, the team was gathered yesterday afternoon with 75 of their closest family members and biggest fans at T’s Pub to see where they would be headed in their first ever NCAA appearance next weekend.

At 5:33 p.m., as the East bracket was about to be introduced, the sense of anticipation grew to a peak and finally erupted into cheers. The players, dressed in their white America East Champions t-shirts, raised their arms into the air and exchanged high fives as their destination appeared on the screen. The screen showed what had been expected, a trip to Storrs, Conn. on Sunday, March 23 to face the defending champion University of Connecticut (31-1), on their home floor of Gampel Pavilion.

‘Right after we won yesterday, I thought we might be a 15 seed,’ said BU coach Margaret McKeon. ‘But after I looked at [the other teams’ records] more closely last night. I figured we’d be a 16 seed.

‘They’re the number one women’s program in the last 10 years. If we’re going to be a 16 seed, why not go to UConn. It’s the best atmosphere in college basketball.’

It is an atmosphere that has produced 39 straight wins at Gampel and 61 overall home wins (the Huskies also play some games at the Hartford Civic Center). The last time the Huskies lost at Gampel was against the University of Tennessee on Feb. 2, 2000. It has been 10 years since the Huskies lost at home in the NCAA Tournament. They dropped a 74-71 game against Louisville in 1993.

The Huskies had an even more impressive streak come to an end in the finals of the Big East conference tournament. Their 52-48 loss to Villanova University on March 11 snapped a 70-game winning streak that was the longest win streak in the history of women’s college basketball.

All the statistics point to UConn as a team no other team would be eager to play, but junior guard Katie Terhune is excited about the opportunity.

‘Any player in the country always wants to play the best,’ Terhune said. ‘It will be nice to be playing locally because there will be a lot more fans, and hopefully more parents and students will be able to go.’

Since the tournament expanded from 48 teams to 64 teams in 1994, only one team with the label of a 16 seed has ever beaten a No. 1 seed. Harvard University beat Stanford University, 71-67 at Maples Pavilion on March 14, 1998 in what is the only win for a 16 seed in the history of the men’s or women’s tournaments. Stanford was not at full strength for the game after their captain, Vanessa Nygaard, and their leading scorer and rebounder, Kristin Folkl, both tore their ACLs in the week leading up to the game.

With the odds stacked against her team once again, McKeon feels the Terriers won’t be overwhelmed by the situation they’re in.

‘I don’t think my kids will fear UConn,’ McKeon said. ‘We played Stanford (69-55 loss at home on Dec. 21) and Vanderbilt (68-51 loss at home on Nov. 23) this year, so we know how to play against tough teams.’

‘We’re putting everything together now and everyone is playing with confidence,’ Terhune said. ‘Look at Harvard a couple of years ago. You never know. That’s what is great about basketball. Anything can happen on any night.’