When scanning the Boston University women’s basketball roster this season, the typical fan may notice one minor detail about the squad’s lineup: not one player is listed as a center.
Considering the Terriers ranked second to last in the America East in rebounding (34.6 per game) and rebounding margin (-4.9 per contest) last season, it might well be the weakness that could keep this year’s team in the doghouse.
But with two of the team’s leading rebounders returning in senior forward Marisa Moseley and junior forward Adrienne Norris, who combined to pull down more than 11 boards per game in 2002-2003, and junior Becky Bonner joining the team after sitting out last year after transferring from Stanford University, BU coach Margaret McKeon feels that this season will prove to be a different story for the Terrier frontcourt.
‘I really think for the first time since I’ve been here, we have a nice group of frontcourt players,’ McKeon said. ‘You’ll see a much better rebounding team than we’ve ever been here.’
With junior Larissa Parr, redshirt freshman Shannon Petranoff and freshman Erica Kovach rounding out the team’s back line, the Terriers do not have one forward under six feet tall. Center or no center, opposing players of all sizes will not be welcomed kindly into the BU paint. Last season, Moseley (1.26 blocked shots per game) headlined a Terrier defense that ranked first in the conference with 116 swats on the year.
On the other side of the ball, though, is where McKeon feels her improved forward core will make the biggest difference.
‘I think what you’ll get from them is low-post presence,’ McKeon said. ‘They all can shoot it from anywhere on the court, but the one thing is, they’re going to be much more effective in the paint.’
Moseley and Norris each contributed with their fair share of points last year, scoring 7.1 and 8.1 per game, respectively, but the addition of Bonner to the starting lineup will most likely have the biggest effect on the team’s play down low. At 6 feet 2 inches, the former Cardinal is a versatile player with power to play inside and a smooth touch to hurt teams from the outside.
While at Stanford, Bonner shot 39.1 percent from behind the three-point arc, a statistic which most speedy point guards aspire for. And so far in this young season, she has proven that she can be a factor for the Terriers.
In BU’s exhibition game against Team Concepts on Nov. 9, Bonner posted a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds in a losing effort. Not bad for a someone who has not played since the 2001-2002 campaign.
‘I think she [Bonner] feels like she has a new life, and she’s looking forward to it,’ McKeon said before the preseason game. ‘There really is no pressure on her. I think they [her teammates] are just happy for her that she got through the year she had to sit out and she’s going to be ready to play.’
Parr, a six-foot-tall forward who has played in 59 straight games for the Terriers, brings even more experience to a frontcourt brimming with veteran leadership. Petranoff sat out almost all of last season with a stress fracture in her foot, but if her numbers from her senior year in high school (15 points and 16 rebounds per game) are any indication of what she can do this winter, she will fit it in just fine for BU.
McKeon called Kovach, a two-time District MVP back in high school, the team’s ‘best pure shooter,’ which is saying a lot when she has players like sophomore Katie Meinhardt and senior Katie Terhune on the roster. And while a back injury may limit Kovach’s playing time at the beginning of this season, she will most likely become a major part in an already deep lineup.
With a strong frontcourt presence and an already solid group of guards, McKeon called this year’s Terriers ‘the most complete’ squad she has ever coached at BU. Whether that translates into another year of dancing in the NCAA Tournament will depend on whether they are as good on the floor as they are on paper.When scanning the Boston University women’s basketball roster this season, the typical fan may notice one minor detail about the squad’s lineup: not one player is listed as a center.
Considering the Terriers ranked second to last in the America East in rebounding (34.6 per game) and rebounding margin (-4.9 per contest) last season, it might well be the weakness that could keep this year’s team in the doghouse.
But with two of the team’s leading rebounders returning in senior forward Marisa Moseley and junior forward Adrienne Norris, who combined to pull down more than 11 boards per game in 2002-2003, and junior Becky Bonner joining the team after sitting out last year after transferring from Stanford University, BU coach Margaret McKeon feels that this season will prove to be a different story for the Terrier frontcourt.
‘I really think for the first time since I’ve been here, we have a nice group of frontcourt players,’ McKeon said. ‘You’ll see a much better rebounding team than we’ve ever been here.’
With junior Larissa Parr, redshirt freshman Shannon Petranoff and freshman Erica Kovach rounding out the team’s back line, the Terriers do not have one forward under six feet tall. Center or no center, opposing players of all sizes will not be welcomed kindly into the BU paint. Last season, Moseley (1.26 blocked shots per game) headlined a Terrier defense that ranked first in the conference with 116 swats on the year.
On the other side of the ball, though, is where McKeon feels her improved forward core will make the biggest difference.
‘I think what you’ll get from them is low-post presence,’ McKeon said. ‘They all can shoot it from anywhere on the court, but the one thing is, they’re going to be much more effective in the paint.’
Moseley and Norris each contributed with their fair share of points last year, scoring 7.1 and 8.1 per game, respectively, but the addition of Bonner to the starting lineup will most likely have the biggest effect on the team’s play down low. At 6 feet 2 inches, the former Cardinal is a versatile player with power to play inside and a smooth touch to hurt teams from the outside.
While at Stanford, Bonner shot 39.1 percent from behind the three-point arc, a statistic which most speedy point guards aspire for. And so far in this young season, she has proven that she can be a factor for the Terriers.
In BU’s exhibition game against Team Concepts on Nov. 9, Bonner posted a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds in a losing effort. Not bad for a someone who has not played since the 2001-2002 campaign.
‘I think she [Bonner] feels like she has a new life, and she’s looking forward to it,’ McKeon said before the preseason game. ‘There really is no pressure on her. I think they [her teammates] are just happy for her that she got through the year she had to sit out and she’s going to be ready to play.’
Parr, a six-foot-tall forward who has played in 59 straight games for the Terriers, brings even more experience to a frontcourt brimming with veteran leadership. Petranoff sat out almost all of last season with a stress fracture in her foot, but if her numbers from her senior year in high school (15 points and 16 rebounds per game) are any indication of what she can do this winter, she will fit it in just fine for BU.
McKeon called Kovach, a two-time District MVP back in high school, the team’s ‘best pure shooter,’ which is saying a lot when she has players like sophomore Katie Meinhardt and senior Katie Terhune on the roster. And while a back injury may limit Kovach’s playing time at the beginning of this season, she will most likely become a major part in an already deep lineup.
With a strong frontcourt presence and an already solid group of guards, McKeon called this year’s Terriers ‘the most complete’ squad she has ever coached at BU. Whether that translates into another year of dancing in the NCAA Tournament will depend on whether they are as good on the floor as they are on paper.When scanning the Boston University women’s basketball roster this season, the typical fan may notice one minor detail about the squad’s lineup: not one player is listed as a center.
Considering the Terriers ranked second to last in the America East in rebounding (34.6 per game) and rebounding margin (-4.9 per contest) last season, it might well be the weakness that could keep this year’s team in the doghouse.
But with two of the team’s leading rebounders returning in senior forward Marisa Moseley and junior forward Adrienne Norris, who combined to pull down more than 11 boards per game in 2002-2003, and junior Becky Bonner joining the team after sitting out last year after transferring from Stanford University, BU coach Margaret McKeon feels that this season will prove to be a different story for the Terrier frontcourt.
‘I really think for the first time since I’ve been here, we have a nice group of frontcourt players,’ McKeon said. ‘You’ll see a much better rebounding team than we’ve ever been here.’
With junior Larissa Parr, redshirt freshman Shannon Petranoff and freshman Erica Kovach rounding out the team’s back line, the Terriers do not have one forward under six feet tall. Center or no center, opposing players of all sizes will not be welcomed kindly into the BU paint. Last season, Moseley (1.26 blocked shots per game) headlined a Terrier defense that ranked first in the conference with 116 swats on the year.
On the other side of the ball, though, is where McKeon feels her improved forward core will make the biggest difference.
‘I think what you’ll get from them is low-post presence,’ McKeon said. ‘They all can shoot it from anywhere on the court, but the one thing is, they’re going to be much more effective in the paint.’
Moseley and Norris each contributed with their fair share of points last year, scoring 7.1 and 8.1 per game, respectively, but the addition of Bonner to the starting lineup will most likely have the biggest effect on the team’s play down low. At 6 feet 2 inches, the former Cardinal is a versatile player with power to play inside and a smooth touch to hurt teams from the outside.
While at Stanford, Bonner shot 39.1 percent from behind the three-point arc, a statistic which most speedy point guards aspire for. And so far in this young season, she has proven that she can be a factor for the Terriers.
In BU’s exhibition game against Team Concepts on Nov. 9, Bonner posted a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds in a losing effort. Not bad for a someone who has not played since the 2001-2002 campaign.
‘I think she [Bonner] feels like she has a new life, and she’s looking forward to it,’ McKeon said before the preseason game. ‘There really is no pressure on her. I think they [her teammates] are just happy for her that she got through the year she had to sit out and she’s going to be ready to play.’
Parr, a six-foot-tall forward who has played in 59 straight games for the Terriers, brings even more experience to a frontcourt brimming with veteran leadership. Petranoff sat out almost all of last season with a stress fracture in her foot, but if her numbers from her senior year in high school (15 points and 16 rebounds per game) are any indication of what she can do this winter, she will fit it in just fine for BU.
McKeon called Kovach, a two-time District MVP back in high school, the team’s ‘best pure shooter,’ which is saying a lot when she has players like sophomore Katie Meinhardt and senior Katie Terhune on the roster. And while a back injury may limit Kovach’s playing time at the beginning of this season, she will most likely become a major part in an already deep lineup.
With a strong frontcourt presence and an already solid group of guards, McKeon called this year’s Terriers ‘the most complete’ squad she has ever coached at BU. Whether that translates into another year of dancing in the NCAA Tournament will depend on whether they are as good on the floor as they are on paper.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
