Backed by outstanding team defense and a game-high 24 points from senior forward Jesyka Burks-Wiley, the Boston University women’s basketball team improved to 2-0 in America East with a 58-47 win against the University of Vermont Saturday at Case Gymnasium.
The Terriers held the Catamounts (7-8, 1-1 AE), who were coming off an 81-point offensive explosion against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in their conference opener, to 25.7-percent shooting. Saturday marked the first time BU (8-6, 2-0) held an opponent under 50 points since its season-opener at the University of Rhode Island two months ago.
‘We played a lot of zone against Vermont,’ senior point guard Christine Kinneary (4 points, 4 assists) said. ‘We worked on it a lot [Friday] in practice, and we were ready for certain plays they were going to throw at us. Really just moving our feet, a lot of talk and a lot of preparation.’
Despite playing only 15 minutes because of foul trouble, defensive stalwart Amarachi Umez-Eronini (10 points, 5 rebounds) made her presence felt. Along with Kinneary, she was responsible for defending junior guard Courtnay Pilypaitis (17 points, 8 rebounds), who dropped 40 on BU last year at The Roof and is currently fourth in the conference with 15.6 points per game.
In addition to helping hold Pilypaitis to 6-of-17 shooting, Umez-Eronini recorded two steals, including a pass interception with 3:45 left in the game that put an exclamation point on the victory.
‘I think the whole team definitely feeds off Amarachi,’ Kinneary said. ‘It was really good that we stayed up while she was out and when she came back in the game, she probably gave us the most significant minutes.
‘I think Amarachi’s the best defender in the conference by far. So anyone who’s going to have her guarding them throughout the game is going to have a difficult game.’
BU jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the game’s first five minutes behind back-to-back 3s from senior guard Kristi Dini (9 points, 4 rebounds) to open the scoring. A trey from the left wing by sophomore guard Kat Briggs with 8:14 remaining in the half made it 24-9, giving the Terriers their biggest lead of the game.
Vermont answered with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to seven, capped off by a Pilypaitis steal and Amy Rosenkrantz finish at the other end. With seven seconds left in the half, Burks-Wiley, who netted 14 in the opening frame, knocked down a step-back jumper over Pilypaitis to give BU an 11-point halftime lead.
‘I’ve been real happy with how we’re starting off games,’ BU coach Kelly Greenberg said. ‘Starting off and getting that lead and having that cushion throughout the second half is really, really helpful because even when they go on a run, you still have a lead of eight or 10 points ‘hellip; If we come out with first halves like that, whether it’s home or away, it’s going to make a big difference for us.’
After Pilypaitis blocked a Burks-Wiley 3-point attempt and junior guard May Kotsopoulos stole Kinneary’s inbound pass, sophomore forward Tonya Young made a layup at the other end to pull Vermont within six with 10:20 left in the game.
But the Terriers answered with a 10-2 run that culminated with Umez-Eronini putting back an offensive rebound and then coming up with the critical steal and making one of two free throws to seal the win.
BU opened its conference schedule with a 72-59 victory at Stony Brook University last Wednesday. Burks-Wiley, who has garnered back-to-back America East Player of the Week honors, led the way with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Dini, Kinneary and Umez-Eronini chipped in 14, 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Terriers split their last two non-conference games. St. John’s University snapped BU’s 16-game winning streak at Case on Dec. 30 with a 74-66 triumph. It was the Scarlet and White’s first loss at The Roof since Feb. 10, 2007.
BU bounced back with an 82-75 win at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst on Jan. 2. Dini notched 23 points, 18 of which came from beyond the arc. Burks-Wiley tallied her first of back-to-back double-doubles, pouring in 21 points and pulling down 10 boards.
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