Already into March, the Boston University women’s basketball team will look to close out the regular season on a high note when it plays host to the United States Military Academy Wednesday night at Case Gym.
The Terriers (3-25, 3-14 Patriot League) will seek revenge on the Patriot League-leading Black Knights (25-2, 16-1 Patriot League), who dismantled BU 72-38 the last time these two met.
In that affair, Army shot over 45 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range, and senior Kelsey Minato finished with 30 points. Despite the lopsided score, BU head coach Katy Steding said she was content with her team’s performance to open the game, and believes it can use that as a model for future success.
“Coming out of the gate, I didn’t think we did a stellar job defensively, but I know we can do better than that,” Steding said. “Offensively, though, I thought we did a good job to start the game. We got some good open shots and we were aggressive, so we’re going to capitalize on that and definitely look to attack the paint more and take advantage of some matchups we did at first and that we didn’t keep going to as much as we could’ve.”
Arguably the biggest Achilles heel that has plagued BU throughout the season is the team’s turnover woes.
The Terriers have a turnover margin of negative 3.46 and are coming off a performance against the College of Holy Cross in which they turned the ball over 17 times. As a result, BU has spent significant practice time addressing this area of concern, as well as rebounds.
“We’ve made a really pointed emphasis on rebounding,” Steding said. “A lot of coaches wouldn’t be worried with working on rebounding at the end of the season, but we’ve made it a real priority in practice the last couple of weeks … Between turnovers and not getting offensive boards, we didn’t give ourselves enough opportunities, and part of it is us just not being as aggressive as we’d like.”
Steding also noted the Army game will be the last home contest for graduate student guard Troi Melton and senior guard Clodagh Scannell. Therefore, she’ll encourage her team to fight hard and pay homage to their respective careers.
“This is the last time Troi and Clodagh will play at home ever, so let’s go out and really give it everything we’ve got,” Steding said.
BU’s 2015-16 season has been full of ups and downs for the Terriers, with several memorable games taking place.
The team recorded its first win Jan. 13 over American University, and the highlight undoubtedly came Feb. 4 against the United States Naval Academy. On that night, junior guard Sarah Hope sank a buzzer beater, securing a 51-49 win and sending Case Gym into pure delight.
With everything that has happened this season, both positively and negatively, Steding is proud of her team’s perseverance and mental strength.
“I’m really proud of my team, first and foremost,” Steding said. “Even though we don’t necessarily have the win-loss record that we’d like to have, our kids could’ve packed it in a long time ago, but they didn’t.”
“They come to practice every day, they work hard, they got a smile on their face and they’re for each other too, so I think that’s really the most important quality,” Steding added. “Their resiliency has kept us in the hunt in a lot of games, so I’m proud of them for that and I know good things still lie ahead for us.”
