The Boston University women’s basketball team will take on familiar foe Harvard University Tuesday at Lavietes Pavilion.
This will be the 31st all-time meeting between the Terriers (0-3) and the Crimson (2-2), with the teams having split the past 30 contests with 15 wins each.
2015 marks the 23rd consecutive meeting for these squads. Having grown familiar with the opposing coaching staff and Harvard’s style of play, BU head coach Katy Steding said she has nothing but appreciation for the Crimson and head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith.
“I have tremendous respect for Kathy,” Steding said. “She knows the game so well, every time you think you’ve figured something out, she has another wrinkle to throw at you. I have tremendous respect for them and I think our girls have a lot of respect for them. Hopefully after last year, they have some respect for us too.”
In last season’s matchup between the two teams, junior forward Meghan Green scored a career-high 19 points in a dramatic comeback win for the Terriers.
However, this year the Terriers offense has struggled to get going.
The team as a whole has shot 30.8 percent from the field, while shooting 17 percent from downtown. If the Terriers are to replicate last season’s victory, they will have to be more efficient on offense.
What has plagued BU so far is its inability to sustain success for an entire game. Against Northeastern University and Boston College, the Terriers made runs in the first half to keep the game within reach, before going cold and letting the game get out of hand. If they want a different result in Cambridge, they will need to focus on executing for all 40 minutes.
In hopes of getting their first win of the season, the Terriers will again look for Green to be a reliable scorer. The Bedford, New Hampshire, native has been the leading scorer and rebounder for BU, averaging 7.7 points and five rebounds per game thus far.
Another returning player that BU has relied on this season is redshirt senior forward Troi Melton. Both Green and Melton have been strong forces in the paint this year, and the Terriers hope to get them involved more in the offense by making better passes.
“We’ve been trying to focus on putting the ball on the floor, and I think we have to give shooters their due when they’re open” Steding said. “One thing that we’ve really been concentrating on is moving the ball more and keeping the other team on defense for longer stretches.”
In the backcourt, the Terriers have looked to both upperclassmen and freshmen for production. Junior guard Courtney Latham leads the team with 5 steals, but she also has a team-high 12 turnovers. Latham has not been able to get going offensively, which has put more stress on the frontcourt to produce.
Freshman guard Payton Hauck has played the third-most minutes on the team, but like most of the Terriers, she has struggled to score, shooting 25 percent from the floor to start the season.
The Terriers offense will need to step up if they are to compete with a Harvard team that has legitimate scoring threats.
Senior AnnMarie Healy paces the Crimson on offense, averaging 15.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. She is a dynamic scorer and will most likely be the main player that the Terriers focus on defending.
While Healy’s scoring ability proves that she is deserving of the defensive attention she’ll be getting, BU cannot lose sight of senior Shilpa Tummala. The sharpshooting guard has averaged more than three 3-pointers per game this season, making her Harvard’s second leading scorer with 14.7 points per game.
“[Healy] is very agile, she has a number of moves, and she’s a good shooter, so if we leave [her] in space, we’re in big trouble,” Steding said. “You’ve got to match up on Shilpa no matter where she’s at. I watched her in high school, and everybody knew who she was, she’s a very talented player. [We’ve got] to minimize her touches in a lot of ways similar to what we trying to do in the first half on Saturday. We’ll try to limit their 3-point shooter and slow down their inside game.”
Tuesday will be one of the Terriers’ best chances at a win this season. Despite their previous 58-37 loss to the Eagles (4-0), Steding said she is happy with BU’s progress and believes the team is moving forward in the right direction.
“We’ve talked about building on last game,” Steding said. “They’re getting it for sure. They’re working really hard and we still have some work to do in terms of always being on the same page, but we’re working together to get it done.”
