When examining the box score of the Boston University women’s basketball team’s 89-40 win over Stony Brook University on Saturday, three statistics stick out besides BU’s largest margin of victory since 1994: 1) BU had six players in double figures, 2) BU out-rebounded the Seawolves, 61-39 and 3) Stony Brook shot 21.7 percent from the field, including an atrocious 1-of-17 from 3-point land.
Junior forward Jesyka Burks-Wiley led all scorers with 17 points. She was followed by senior guard Cheri Raffo (14), junior guard Amarachi Umez-Eronini (12), junior guard Christine Kinneary (11), junior guard Kristi Dini (10) and sophomore forward Kristen Folk (10).
“After the Binghamton loss (Jan. 12), I watched some film and realized I could take it to the basket more,” Kinneary said, “which opens up the floor for other people to knock down shots. Amarachi’s defense allowed us to get some deflections and steals that led to some fast break points.”
BU’s 61 rebounds were its most since bringing down 68 against the University of South Florida on Nov. 17, 2001. Saturday, Burks-Wiley led the way with 12 boards, followed by Umez-Eronini (9), sophomore forward Aly Hinton (8) and senior forward Kasey Devine (7). Every Terrier on the active roster had at least one rebound.
The Terriers were especially dominant on the defensive end, pulling down 38 defensive rebounds while holding the Seawolves to just 19 offensive rebounds. BU was also able to hold the conference’s leading rebounder, Stony Brook senior forward Dana Ferraro, to nine boards.
“We knew Dana led the conference in rebounding, so we knew we had to keep her off the boards,” Burks-Wiley said. “If she gets going, she can be your worst nightmare.”
Stony Brook’s porous shooting was a result of BU’s aggressive fullcourt defense and a collection of “off days” by several Seawolves. SBU struggled to penetrate the Terrier defense, leading to several bad shots — including a handful of air balls. On the few occasions when they had open shots, the Seawolves simply could not put the ball in the basket.
Ferraro, the team’s second-leading scorer, shot 2-of-11 from the field. The Seawolves also shot 50 percent from the free-throw line, another example that Saturday simply wasn’t their day.
“We were very aware of Ferraro’s presence on the court and we contested all of her shots,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg. “I think a level of frustration set in for her and that went right along with our game plan of taking it to them on the defensive end. We knew if we could take the wind out of her sails, it would take the wind out of the whole team because she’s their most experienced player.”