In its last contest before Thanksgiving break, the Boston University women’s basketball team will host Northeastern University tonight at Case Gymnasium.
BU coach Kelly Greenberg’s young Terrier (1-3) squad had trouble handling the press in its most recent game against St. John’s University. In practice on Wednesday, Greenberg prepared her team to see the press again tonight.
‘We have seen [Northeastern (2-1)] on tape and they definitely press,’ Greenberg said. ‘They actually do a 2-2-1 and go back to a zone, so we’ll be ready for that. We saw the same thing against [the University of] Kentucky, so we’ve been seeing some presses and I think we’re getting better.’
In its game against the Red Storm, BU struggled to hold onto the ball ‘-‘- coughing up 20 turnovers. Despite the turnovers, the Terriers hung in the game until the final five minutes when St. John’s pulled away for an 80-63 win.
The Terriers enter tonight’s game slightly banged up. Freshman guard Kristen Sims is on crutches with a foot injury and fellow freshman guard Chantell Alford hasn’t played a minute since she left the University of Rhode Island game on Nov. 18. Alford took an elbow to the face early in the first half of that game and did not participate in contact drills at yesterday’s practice.
‘We’re going to see how [Alford] feels tomorrow,’ Greenberg said. ‘Hopefully she will play in tomorrow’s game ‘-‘- that’s what we’re hoping for.’
With two guards recently injured, Greenberg has reason to worry about her depth at that position. Freshman guard Caitlynn Moran ‘-‘- who leads the team with 12 points per game ‘-‘- sophomore guard Alex Young and junior guard Kat Briggs will see increased minutes while Alford and Sims get healthy.
‘Having Kristen down and Chantell out ‘-‘- two people we really expected to get some serious minutes ‘-‘- just gives other people opportunity maybe to step up and we can see what they can do,’ Greenberg said.
Maybe the Terriers’ biggest surprise has been a lack of production from senior forward Aly Hinton. The lone returning starter from last year’s squad is shooting just 28 percent from the floor and has averaged seven points per game through the first four games.
‘[Hinton’s] getting a lot of good looks, they’re just not falling for her,’ Greenberg said. ‘She hasn’t taken many shots that she shouldn’t take. We’re very pleased with her shot selection. Maybe it’s a little bit of the coaches and Aly have high expectations, so maybe she’s feeling that a little bit.’
The Huskies come into ‘The Roof’ tonight on the heels of an 84-57 victory over a suspect University of Rhode Island team on Saturday. The Rams lost at Matthews Arena just three days after the Terriers held them to 35 points in a 47-35 BU win on Nov. 18.’ ‘
Northeastern features only two players who average double-digit points per game ‘-‘- freshman forward Rachael Pecota (10 ppg) and sophomore guard Brittany Wilson (10).
‘Every game is going to be different,’ Greenberg said. ‘We’re still trying to find out who we are. We’re trying to discover our identity. Somewhat similar to the Celtics right now, you know you got new people, you got to get a feel for each other. We’ve changed some things as a staff, everything is not the same offensively and defensively as last year, so there’s a lot of new even for the returnees.’
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