After suffering its second-straight loss last weekend, the Boston University women’s basketball team will look to continue to improve tonight when the team faces off against Northeastern University at Case Gymnasium.
“Our goals are to continue to get better this early on in the season,” said BU assistant coach Michael Leflar, who coached in place of BU head coach Kelly Greenberg against the University of Richmond. “It’s going into practice and for every game, to continue to work on the things that we need to get better at.”
Their last time out, the Terriers (1-2) fell to Richmond in a tight competition that ended in a 72-60 loss.
What began as Terrier domination quickly turned into a web of success for the Spiders (3-0) when BU gave up an early 10-6 lead just moments into the game. However, halfway through the contest, the Spiders held a just a 35-28 lead.
Junior guard Mo Moran helped in damage control with two 3-pointers and a clear effort on defense during the first half.
Determined to take back the game, BU came out fighting at the start off the second half.
Senior guard Alex Young scored 15 points in the last 20 minutes in a valiant effort to keep the team afloat.
Young has proven to be an indispensible asset to the team. Other than scoring over thirty percent of the team’s points during Friday’s game, she now has 55 points on the season, including her 1,000th collegiate career point.
Fellow captain and senior forward Caroline Stewart stood out as well with 13 rebounds and 8 points to close out the game.
BU gained a 54-50 lead, the Terriers’ biggest of the game, with 15 minutes left on the clock. However, despite the Terriers’ best efforts, the Spiders came out on top.
When the Terriers take on the Huskies today, the teams will continue the longest running rivalry in Huskie’s women’s basketball history, having played each other every year since the 1978-79 season. BU leads the all-time series 38-31.
“It’s going to be a very tough game,” Leflar said. “You throw any records out the window. The last seven or eight games we’ve played [against Northeastern] have all been very tight. We know them very well.”
Northeastern recorded its first win over the Terriers since 2005 when it defeated BU 67-55 last season.
“We’ve had some success [against Northeastern],” Leflar said. “Last year we lost at Northeastern – the first time we’ve lost in about five years. Every game, when we play them is close. It doesn’t matter who’s better on paper, it’s a very competitive game.”
This season, the Huskies are 0-3 with each of their losses ending with a difference of at least 14 points.
The Huskies have been led offensively this season by sophomore Jewell Tunstull, who as an average of 14 points per game, and junior Deanna Kerkhof who averages 10 ppg.
Northeastern returns seven players from the 2010-11 squad, including its top-three point scorers. Among those are Kerkhof, who averaged 11 ppg last season, senior Kashaia Cannon who had 10.7 ppg and senior Jamie Conroy who had 10 ppg.
Three Terriers are averaging double-digit scoring performances just three games into the season. Young leads the team with 18.3 ppg while junior Moran is second on the team with 11.3 ppg. Sophomore Rashidat Agboola also averages 11 ppg and leads the team with 9.7 rebounds per game.
The Terriers will come into today’s game with a 1-0 record at Case after having secured a season-opening win over Providence College.
“I hope [Young and Moran] can keep it going and continue to play well,” Leflar said. “Mo especially. She’s been giving great effort through all three games. If we can have every other player match her intensity, we’ll have success.”
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