Having lost its sixth game in a row to close the regular season, the Boston University women’s basketball team will hit the road Wednesday to take on Colgate University in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.
The Terriers (5-24, 2-16 Patriot League) have struggled mightily over the last month, and will still be looking for their first victory since Feb. 7 in their matchup against the Raiders (8-21, 7-11 Patriot League) in Hamilton, New York.
Over the last six games, it’s been a struggle for BU. What’s really killed the Terriers over this stretch and for the majority of the season has been their inability to stay with opponents for the whole 40 minutes.
In their previous bout against Colgate on Feb. 11, as well as the following game against Loyola University Maryland on Feb. 14, the Terriers finished the half with the lead, only to be demolished in the second half. Against the United States Military Academy on Feb. 25, the Terriers were down by two going into the locker room, and then were outscored by 12 in the second.
Against the College of the Holy Cross on Saturday, the Terriers allowed the contest to get away from them early, getting outscored by 14 in the first half. In the second half, the Terriers were either able to keep up with or even outscore their opponents, but despite their best efforts, could not erase leads that had already gotten out of hand.
BU coach Katy Steding said that in order to succeed Wednesday, the team will need to play physical basketball against Colgate.
“I think we’re going to really have to buckle down,” Steding said. “The little things are really going to pile up on us, like offensive rebounding and getting on the floor for a loose ball, those kind of little things that we kind of talk about as hustle plays. If we can work hard to out-hustle them, like I think we did the first time, we’ll come out okay.”
Although the Terriers have been outshooting opponents over this six-game skid, though just by the slimmest of margins — 40.8 percent to 40.4 percent, in favor of the Terriers — their lack of a long-ranged presence has hurt them dearly. BU is shooting just 22.4 percent from behind the 3-point line on only 49 attempts during this losing streak, while the opposition has sunk 35.8 percent of their 106 attempts from long range.
Redshirt junior guard Troi Melton has been leading the Terrier offense. Since Feb. 11, Melton has accounted for just over a quarter of the Terriers’ offensive production. She’s averaging 13 points per game and 44 percent from the floor since the Terriers last took on the Raiders, and she’s coming off her second 20 plus-point performance in four games.
Steding said she has been impressed with Melton’s improvement over the course of the season and the confidence she’s gained over her last few games.
“Troi’s really been in a rhythm lately, and it’s been really fun to watch her grow from where she was even when we got here last summer,” Steding said. “Being able to design certain plays for her is 1,000 miles from where she was at the beginning of the season. I would probably say Troi’s our most improved player, and a lot of people would probably join me in saying that.”
By Patriot League standards, the Raiders are exceptionally average. They’re ranked fifth or sixth out of 10 in nearly every category. One area in which their game is severely lacking, however, is their 3-point shooting. Ranked just above BU, they shoot just 29.3 percent from behind the arc. Colgate is riding a three-game winning streak coming into Wednesday, so while the Raiders have momentum, Steding said the Terriers won’t back down.
“We can’t abandon anything to shore up one thing. We have to play a consistent game, and we’re still going for that,” Steding said of Colgate’s ineffective 3-point game. “With Colgate not being as [good] on 3-pointers as some other teams we play, that’s moderately helpful, but I think the big challenge is going to be inside. Are we going to be tough enough to beat them inside?”
