After a difficult weekend road trip that saw the Terriers lose by 34 points to the University of Kentucky and fall in an overtime heartbreaker to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst two days later, the Boston University women’s basketball team returns to the much friendlier confines of Case Gymnasium to face the University of Rhode Island in its home- opener Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Given their disappointing performances, the Terriers (0-2) will need to improve defensively if they are to beat the Rams (0-1). BU allowed a total of 171 points between the two games, 100 of which came in the second half or overtime. Four players for both the Wildcats and the Minutewomen reached double figures in each contest.
On the offensive side, turnovers have also been a noted reason for the Terriers’ struggles. They totaled an appalling 52 turnovers last weekend, 29 alone in Friday’s game down in Lexington, Ky. BU’s opponents were able to take advantage and score 53 points off turnovers. BU’s difficulties continued in the paint as it was outscored, 74-38, down-low last weekend.
As disheartening as the recent results may be, BU can take solace in its record at Case Gymnasium over the last few seasons. The Terriers are 4-1 in their home openers, including an 84-61 win over Siena College to begin the home slate last season, in BU coach Kelly Greenberg’s career at ‘The Roof.’ In their last two seasons at Case, the Terriers are 23-1.
A bright spot for the Terriers has been the freshmen class, and perhaps the brightest of the young stars has been guard Caitlynn Moran. Against UMass, the Hopewell Junction, N.Y. native led the way for BU with a 20-point effort on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Earlier, against Kentucky, she came three rebounds short of a double-double (10 points, 7 rebounds) in the first start of her collegiate career.
In that same game, fellow freshman Kristen Sims led all Terriers’ scorers with 17 points, after going 3-for-7 from 3-point land in the 92-58 loss.
In its lone contest thus far, URI did not fare much better than the Terriers have in the early going. In their home opener, the Rams fell to Fairfield University, 74-48, despite out-rebounding the Stags by the healthy 38-29 margin.
For URI, forward Lara Gaspar will match up well against the Terriers. The sophomore led the Rams with 13 points, all but one of which came inside the arc, while also totaling a team-high 12 boards.
If the Terriers are to succeed defensively, they will have to key on Gaspar on the inside and keep the points-in-the-paint margin low, something they have yet to do in the young season.
Past Gaspar and guard Megan Shoniker, the Rams have few scoring threats, as none of the remaining players scored more than six.
In last year’s matchup between the two teams, BU bested URI, 50-45, in the first contest of the year for both squads. Gaspar, who totaled nine points for the Rams and BU senior forward Aly Hinton, who snagged six rebounds in last year’s contest, are the best performing returnees from that game. BU leads the all-time series between the teams, 8-6, and is 28-27 vs. the Atlantic-10 Conference.
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