While conference-leading scorer Katie Terhune might take the team on her back some nights, the seniors on the Boston University women’s basketball team were out to prove that this was their night. While coach Margaret McKeon did start all three of her active seniors last night, the trio quickly proved it was not just a token start in their last home game.
Annie Tomasini, Anne Nelson and Dia Dufault showed some senior leadership last night as part of a balanced attack that buried the Seawolves of the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Tomasini, who averaged only 7.5 minutes coming into last night’s game, scored 10 points in 21 minutes of action, while adding three assists, two rebounds and a steal. She was one of three players in double figures. Terhune was not one of the other two.
“I thought Annie Tomasini has been playing well of late,” coach Margaret McKeon said. “And she’s really starting to feel comfortable within the team.”
McKeon said Tomasini is just now recovering from a hand injury that has hindered her play, especially her ball-handling skills as a point guard.
“Her hand is not bothering her,” McKeon said. “And she’s stopped thinking about it.”
From the opening tip, it was easy to see that this is still Tomasini’s team, and even though the senior contingent has not made great contributions in the boxscore this year, Tomasini was out to prove that she can still be a floor general.
“I like her leadership on the floor,” McKeon said. “I like the way she plays defensively.”
Before the ball was thrown up to start the game, Tomasini was already screaming out directions to her team. When she drained a tough three-pointer from the corner late in the first half to give BU a 12-point halftime lead, Tomasini pumped her fist in the air as her bench erupted.
“She adds something to our club,” McKeon said. “And she has to find some playing time.”
In addition to that post-game comment, McKeon hinted further that Tomasini’s 21-minute showing was no fluke, suggesting Tomasini will be getting more minutes so that the taller Dufault can move to one of the forward positions.
“I think we have a few different options we can go to,” McKeon said. “And we needed another guard anyway, and that has been Annie, because Dia has to play the three or the four for us to be successful.”
Fellow senior Anne Nelson hit an early 18-foot jumper as part of her four-point effort in 12 minutes of action, while Dufault added four rebounds. Sophomore Marisa Moseley and freshman Larissa Parr were the other two Terriers in double figures, with 15 and 12 respectively.
As the season has progressed, more options have opened up for the Terriers, taking some of the load off Terhune. Her eight-point showing last night was only the second time this season that she has finished in single digits. But unlike her five-point performance against Saint Joseph’s University in December, the Terriers cruised to an easy win against the Seawolves while riding on the back of other players.
Tomasini, Nelson and Dufault led by example in the second half, as their tenacious, high-pressure defense helped the Terriers pull away when the Seawolves got as close as six points. While Moseley had the highlight-reel moments of the night with two consecutive three-point plays and a Mutumbo-esque block, it was the pressure defense from players such as Tomasini that kept Stony Brook at arm’s length.
“With a young team, they kind of let people hang on,” McKeon said. “Then they’re like, ‘Woah, it’s time to play.'”
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