Women still soul-searching

A little over a week ago, the Boston University women’s basketball team was really enjoying its winter break. After rolling over Marist College in a 72-46 romp on Jan. 3, the Terriers (5-6, 0-2 America East) found themselves riding a three-game winning streak, the first two wins during that stretch coming only days before in a 78-64 win over Fairleigh Dickinson University on Dec. 28 and a 69-68 squeaker on Dec. 30 over Wagner College.

But after Sunday, that all changed.

BU had its three-game tear snapped Wednesday when a talented University of Hartford team came rolling into Case Gymnasium and posted a 69-60 win. Then, in search of their first conference win on the final day of break, the Terriers struggled down the final stretch en route to dropping a 74-65 decision to Binghamton University at West Gymnasium in Vestal, N.Y.

Despite shooting nearly 45 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the three-point arc for the game, BU could not keep it together during the final minutes as the Bearcats (6-4, 1-1 America East) used an 11-2 run over a 3:27 span in the waning moments of the second half to keep the Terriers from posting their first America East victory of the season.

After lighting it up throughout most of the first half, shooting close to 63 percent from the three-point line, BU let Binghamton climb back into the game late in the first frame with an 8-0 run to tie it at 30 by the intermission. In the final 20 minutes, it was the Bearcats who would be popping light bulbs on the scoreboard.

Binghamton made more than half of its shots in the second half while knocking down 67 percent of its three-pointers. Freshman Therese Deemand provided most of the fireworks with her four three-pointers and 12 second-half points, and she and sophomore guard Jen Blues (15 points and four assists) were only two of five Bearcat players to reach double figures in scoring.

Despite the hot shooting, the Terriers cut it to one at 54-53 with 7:35 remaining, and after junior forward Becky Bonner (14 points and a team-high eight rebounds) traded threes with Deemand, it looked as if BU could stay with the Bearcats. But after Binghamton’s backbreaking run and a technical foul for having six players on the floor, the Terriers could only watch as their opponents exploited their defensive weaknesses to wrap up the victory.

Still, many of the problems that plagued BU during Sunday’s matchup with Binghamton – the Terriers turned the ball over 18 times while being outrebounded 34-28 – pale in comparison to a problem that has handicapped coach Margaret McKeon’s squad most of this season: inconsistency.

During their three-game winning streak, the Terriers held a 128-117 overall edge on the boards, but in their past two losses, they have been out-rebounded 74-57 by their opponents. And defensively, BU has looked more like Swiss cheese than a solid unit.

After allowing only 46 points to Marist, the Terriers turned around to give up 69 to Hartford only four days later. McKeon attributes these problems, among others, to her team’s inability to play just as that – a team.

“Obviously we have a lot of work to do defensively and offensively in becoming one unit,” McKeon said. “That’s number one in goals right now – to play as a team on both ends of the floor.”

As McKeon explained, though, this may prove to be more difficult than originally thought. With the news that sophomore guard Katie Meinhardt will miss the remainder of the season with a foot injury and with a number of new players still attempting to adjust to the team’s system, McKeon said it may take some time until her squad starts to play fundamental, “team basketball.”

“Right now, it’s just [about] trying to become real familiar with each other,” she said. “There’s no doubt that we will be able to do that, but it’s just unfortunate that we’re not playing real confident right now.”

As a team, BU has its problems, but individually, it hasn’t been a bowl of cherries for several of the Terriers either.

While she put up a game-high 24 points in the loss to Binghamton, senior guard Katie Terhune has struggled to find her scoring touch at times over the past few weeks. The preseason All-Conference First Teamer scored only nine points against Hartford and just three more against Wagner.

But with a 13-point effort against Fairleigh Dickinson, 21 against Marist and 20 way back in a 91-74 loss to Harvard University, Terhune is starting to emerge as the team’s offensive leader, a position she has held throughout most of her career. Unfortunately, she hasn’t filled that role as often as many would have expected this campaign.

Bonner, who fought through sickness against Binghamton, has also struggled. After starting the season as the go-to player for the team, in recent games, the redshirt transfer from Stanford University has had trouble finding the bottom of the net. In the two games before Sunday, Bonner only scored eight and nine points, respectively. Not since her 26-point performance against Fordham University on Dec. 3 has she led the team in scoring.

And with Meinhardt’s season-ending injury, McKeon feels that the Terriers are still searching for someone to consistently step up when they need it the most.

“Last year, she [Meinhardt] had a lot of winning shots and down in crunch time, she was always the one who made the big shot or did something big to help us,” McKeon said. “Right now, that role has to go to someone else and I think we’re still looking at each other, ‘Who’s going to do it?'”

BU could have used someone to step up late in Sunday’s game, and with conference play wearing on into greater importance, the defending America East champs will need all the help the can get if they hope to hoist another banner at the end of this year.

Maybe they just need another vacation from classes to help them get back on track. Luckily for them, spring break comes in March right in the middle of the Madness.