This past weekend, our women’s field hockey and soccer teams suffered first round losses in their respective NCAA tournaments. Both teams had solid seasons and advancing to the tournament, whether by winning the conference (field hockey) or receiving an at-large bid (soccer), is a tremendous achievement. Both squads should be happy with their seasons and we should be proud of our teams.

Here at BU our women’s teams are strong and well, they should be. We boast the best academics in our conference and we’re located in the biggest city. As a non-athlete, if I had applied and been accepted to any other America East program I would have shot them down in a second for a chance to come to BU. I hope the same applies for my fellow students.

When our coaches recruit, they should have a distinct advantage over the other schools in our conference. Women’s sports seem to be particularly affected. Last season, we won seven conference titles in women’s athletics and one in men’s. I have to give it to our girls-they got game. But why the drastic contrast?

Is it because men are more tempted by the appeals of major conferences? Perhaps. Is it because academics are more important to women? Perhaps. Is it because ladies hear about the sexy trio of sports columnists that write for The Daily Free Press? Unlikely. But no matter what the reason, our women dominate in nearly every sport.

Tonight marks the start of the season for the women’s basketball team. Basketball is the most watched women’s collegiate sport in America. But unlike our soccer, field hockey and lacrosse teams, our women’s basketball program has not had much success over the past two seasons.

Three years ago, Margaret McKeon was the head coach of the women’s basketball team. She was let go following the 2003-04 season after five years with the Terriers. Usually a coach is fired for lack of results and the program intends to improve following the coaching change. That was not the case with McKeon’s dismissal and new coach Kelly Greenberg’s arrival at BU.

McKeon turned the women’s basketball program from a team that went 5-22 the year before she arrived to a team that finished 19-11 in her fifth and final season. In each of her first three seasons, she improved on the win total of the previous year and in her fourth season she led the Terriers to the NCAA Tournament.

When McKeon was fired and Greenberg was brought in as her replacement, I expected the improvement to continue. Greenberg had an impressive resume that included two NCAA Tournament appearances with the University of Pennsylvania. She looked like a good hire, no question.

However, the results so far have been less than stellar. The team dropped to 15-16 in Greenberg’s first season-their first sub-.500 record in four years. Last season, Greenberg’s second at the helm, the team went 18-12, certainly a step up, but their 9-7 conference record was still worse than their conference record in any of McKeon’s final three seasons.

Obviously, a new coach should be allowed a couple of years to recruit her own players and install her own system. I’m not going to hold her first two seasons against Greenberg, but now it’s her time to shine. This will be Greenberg’s third season with the program. If she can’t achieve the results the previous coach did then why did we hire her? I’m not going to call for a mulligan just yet, I’m giving Greenberg this year to win me over and establish BU as a threat in the America East.

The Terriers are talented. They certainly have the players needed to contend. Seniors Katie Meinhardt and Erica Kovach are holdovers from the McKeon era and should provide senior leadership as well as scoring. Meinhardt was the America East Freshman of the Year back in 2002-03, but has struggled through injuries. If she’s healthy, she will be a key offensive threat. Kovach came on strong last season to average 13.5 points per game in conference play.

Junior Cheri Raffo and sophomore Christine Kinneary will anchor the backcourt. Raffo has tremendous speed and a nice outside shot, while Kinneary is a defensive and ball-handling specialist, a Kevin Fitzgerald if you will. Junior forward Kasey “She’s So” Devine lost her title as team’s tallest player because of the arrival of 6-foot-5-inch freshman Kristen Folk, but she should still be a major contributor.

Then there’s the key player in the women’s basketball program. The girl I put all my hopes and dreams in. Her name is Jesyka Burks-Wiley and toward the end of last season, she emerged as a star. She’s tenacious on the boards, quick to the basket and brings versatility to her hairstyles that would make Dennis Rodman jealous. She only played 16.8 minutes per game last season. That needs to change if the Terriers are going to have success this year. Burks-Wiley must see more playing time and must be the dominant athlete that coach Greenberg recruited her to be.

Our women’s teams are at the top of the conference in nearly every sport. Women’s basketball should be no exception. This year we find out if coach Greenberg has the Terriers on the right track to the top of the conference or if we need to rethink her hiring.

Josh Lerner, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].