WEST HARTFORD, Conn. ‘-‘- As the University of Vermont women’s basketball team was being awarded the 2009 America East championship trophy following its 74-66 win on Sunday, Jesyka Burks-Wiley sat on the Boston University bench, hands on her head, fighting back tears. Kristi Dini had her head in her lap and tears flowing down her cheeks. Amarachi Umez-Eronini stared into space with an expressionless look on her face. Christine Kinneary headed for the locker room door shaking her head, only to have her mother cut her off and embrace her in an emotional hug.
For the third time in the historic senior class’ career, the Terriers’ dreams of a conference championship and an NCAA Tournament berth were shattered on the floor of Chase Family Arena in the title game. But this time, it was Vermont, rather than the University of Hartford, leaving them a collective emotional wreck. And this time, it hurt even more.
The perfect America East season has come to an end, and the winningest class in program history, a class that saw three of its members named to the All-Conference First Team and one of its members (Burks-Wiley) win the Player of the Year award, will graduate without a single appearance in the big dance.
‘It’s extremely upsetting,’ BU coach Kelly Greenberg said through tears in the postgame press conference. ‘You just want so much for girls who work together and love each other so much. It’s just an enjoyable group. It’s very hard. There’s really nothing you can say to them right now to console them.
‘When you’re true competitors, and you have great character all the time, it’s a hard thing. Somehow, someway, we’ll get through this. Yes, there will be a postseason [the Women’s NIT], but for the next 24 hours, it’s a tough time for our group.’
The game was a spitting image of the Terriers’ other two games of the weekend for the first 29 minutes. They jumped out to a commanding lead early on. They opened the door to let the opposition go on a late first-half run and take a lead into the break. All-Tournament First Team members Burks-Wiley (26 points, 11 rebounds) and Umez-Eronini (18 and 7) kept them close early in the second half. And they struggled to finish at the rim and hit free throws down the stretch.
But instead of taking back the lead and hanging on for an ugly win like they did Friday against the University at Albany and Saturday against Binghamton University, the Terriers could never catch up Sunday. Instead of the opponent wearing down and getting in foul trouble, junior guard Courtnay Pilypaitis (22 points, 11 rebounds), the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, found a second gear and slammed the door on BU.
‘In the beginning, I tried to get our team involved, and [senior] Sy [Janousek] was hitting and [seniors] Amy [Rosenkrantz] and Andrea [Cihal] were hitting jumpers,’ Pilypaitis said. ‘I just really tried to get people involved. And then, [BU’s] defenders started getting a little tired. And we were attacking, and we set a few more plays up for me to drive. I just take what I can get. And again, people look for me to score on my team, and I knew that’s what we needed to keep going.’
After Burks-Wiley and Umez-Eronini combined for 13 of BU’s 15 points in the first nine minutes of the second stanza to pull BU within one, Pilypaitis drained a long 2 from the right elbow with one second left on the shot clock to make it a 46-43 game. Three minutes later, she hit back-to-back jumpers to up the lead to six.
Another Pilypaitis J with 4:10 remaining gave the Catamounts a 10-point lead. After Burks-Wiley and Umez-Eronini made back-to-back layups to cut the lead to six, the 2008 Player of the Year drove hard to the hole for a layup to prevent BU from going on any sort of a run.
As the Terriers continually drew contact in the lane only to struggle from the line and settle for one point at a time, Pilypaitis went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the game’s final 1:44 to clinch Vermont’s first conference title since 2000.
‘We were kind of letting her get deep in the paint a little bit, and that’s where she’s best,’ Greenberg said. ‘She’s stronger and bigger than Christine and Amarachi, and, at times, she took advantage of that. She’s a very good player, and she came into this weekend playing her best basketball, no question. She was the reigning MVP from last year and maybe had a little bit of a down year, but she certainly came up big in the conference tournament for Vermont.’
Although the game ended very differently than the Terriers are used to, it started the same way almost all of their conference games have this year ‘-‘- with a quick start. BU jumped out to an 18-6 lead in the first seven minutes, with eight of those points coming on Burks-Wiley layups.
Unlike the regular season when BU would just keep its foot on the gas and cruise to the finish line, the Terriers made a habit of letting up and watching their opponents pass them on the way to the locker room this weekend. Sunday was no different, because the Catamounts finished the half on a 24-10 run to carry a 33-28 lead into halftime.
‘I thought we came out and looked very, very strong in the first nine, 10, 11 minutes, and then we just came to a standstill offensively,’ Greenberg said.
‘It’s a tough loss. There are 12 women in there that I just love, and they gave everything they had. It really wasn’t their weekend in all honesty, not just today. I don’t know if it was the pressure or what. They’re the greatest team in BU history. There’s no question. And I’m extremely proud of them.’
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