The Boston University women’s basketball team will close out their season-opening homestand against Boston College Saturday afternoon in Case Gym.
The Terriers (0-2) are still looking for their first win following losses to Northeastern University and the State University of New York at Albany. In BU’s last game against the Great Danes (2-0), four different players scored a team-best of nine points.
Among them was freshman Lauren Spearman. Despite playing only nine minutes, the 5-foot-7 guard made three of her four shots, including two 3-pointers.
“She’s a good ball handler and she’s learning to make good decisions,” said BU coach Katy Steding. “Obviously, she’s got a great pull-up jumper, and she’s got 3-point capability. She’s got a good head for the game, and she’s still learning.”
Another leading scorer for the Terriers was junior forward Meghan Green. She is returning as last year’s leading scorer and rebounder, and turned in another solid performance Wednesday as she finished 4-7 from the field.
What plagues BU thus far has been its lack of offensive execution. The team shot 30.4 percent against Albany and 29.8 percent against Northeastern (2-0). Steding emphasized that there are a multitude of reasons why BU has struggled from range and around the rim.
“We’re passive and we’re allowing defenses to just sit in gaps, choking off driving lanes,” she said. “We know our offense is better than that, and sometimes we get a little impatient and we want to make something happen right away. We’re trying to get them to be a little more disciplined.”
Junior guard Sarah Hope has also struggled to score points. She was 3-11 from downtown against Albany, and BU as a team shot 28 percent from behind the arc. The Terriers frequently shot 3-pointers after falling behind by such a large margin, but in this game, that approach proved inefficient.
Unfortunately, the upcoming game will not be any easier for the Terriers, as Boston College (3-0) hails from the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the best college basketball conferences in the country.
One player BU must watch out for is junior guard Kelly Hughes, who is BC’s leading scorer. Her best performance came in the season opener, when she scored 22 points and went 6-8 from behind the arc.
Hughes’ success is not limited to this season. Last year, she scored a career-high 424 points, which was the most in a season by a BC player since the 2010-11 season.
Given Hughes’ reputation, Steding said she knows that limiting her chances is of the utmost importance.
“She’s a very talented shooter,” Steding said. “She’s shooting at a terrific clip. We have to make sure we know where she’s at all times. The more open looks she gets, the worse it is for us.”
BC freshman Mariella Fasoula may also cause problems for the Terriers. The 6-foot-4 center is the Eagles’ second-leading scorer. Fasoula could present a problem down low for the Terriers, who got outscored 52-12 in the paint against Albany.
Ultimately, BU will need to play a tight defense against a powerful Eagles offense in order to keep it close. In addition to improving their execution on both ends of the floor, Steding said making mental adjustments could benefit the Terriers.
“We need to commit to playing hard and tough through the end of possessions,” she added. “Our toughness inside has been very suspect, but we did make some progress with it [against Albany]. The intensity level that we need has not been there, and we need to bring that back up.”
