The Boston University women’s basketball team will start its 2015-16 season Friday when Northeastern University comes to Case Gym. These two teams also met in last year’s season opener, but BU ultimately fell, 75-74.
BU coach Katy Steding, who is preparing to begin her second season at the helm, said her team is anxiously awaiting taking on the Huskies.
“With all of the Boston-area schools, we enjoy a healthy rivalry,” Steding said. “I think the team’s excited to prove how hard they’ve been working and what we’re trying to accomplish this year. I think they’re excited for a chance to show off.”
Steding didn’t hint at a direct game plan, but is confident her team is slowly but surely learning its system.
“I see this year that we have more weapons than we did previously,” Steding said. “We’re deeper, especially with the addition of our freshmen, than we were last year. We lacked numbers and size and scoring punch. I think on occasion we’re still a young team figuring out a little bit of how we’re doing it.
“We’re better, but we’re still young and need to instill a new system to half the team,” Steding added. “There’s some adjustment period coming, but we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”
The Terriers will rely on the offensive contributions of junior forward Meghan Green and junior guard Sarah Hope. The duo were two of three players to score at least nine points per game last season, with the other being recent graduate Mollie McKendrick.
Defensively, BU will have to key in on seniors Samantha DeFreese and Tiffany Montagne, two of the Huskies’ top returning scorers from last season. They combined for 36 steals, 46 assists and 26.1 PPG last year. While Steding is aware of Northeastern’s two stalwarts, she expressed her team is prepared to limit their chances.
“We have to play real strong,” Steding said. “[Sophomore forward] Kara Sheftic and Meg Green are our cohorts of post players. They’re ready to go and are excited for the challenge because they are adept and strong and physical.
“We’re going to approach it from a team concept,” Steding added. “Like, if they had a strong guard, we’d be approaching it the same way”
As the Terriers ended the 2014-15 season losing 22 of their last 24 games, Steding highlighted certain areas to improve upon before Friday’s matchup with Northeastern.
However, BU isn’t the only team looking to redeem itself after a disappointing season. The Huskies are attempting to bounce back from a 4-25 campaign and a 1-17 conference record.
However, those poor memories will be in the rearview mirror by Friday’s tipoff. Most of all, Steding said her team is ready to put last year in the past and prove it was just a pebble on their path toward domination.
“I think this is a team that said, ‘We’re not doing that again,’” Steding said. “They rolled up their sleeves, are in better shape, more aggressive, more tenacious and they’re in attack mode pretty much all the time.
“We were so passive sometimes last year,” Steding added. “Like I said last year, I want everyone to leave the gym going, ‘Man, that Boston University team sure plays hard.’”
