In between celebrating holidays, enduring New England snowstorms and relaxing during a month-long break from classes, the Boston University women’s basketball team showed that the New Year can mean a fresh start—even in the middle of the season.
After wrapping up 2010 and the non-conference part of its schedule on Dec. 31 with a 65-55 loss to Providence College and seeing its record drop to 3-9, the Terriers (8-9, 5-0 America East) have run off five straight wins versus America East opponents, most recently against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (9-9, 3-2 AE).
Monday afternoon at Case Gymnasium, the Terriers outscored UMBC in both halves for a 65-39 win to continue their hot streak. The first quarter of the game was very low-scoring—the teams scored a total of five points in the first six minutes—and saw four lead changes, but BU used a seven-minute, 21-4 run toward the end of the first half to re-take the lead for good.
The second half was more of the same, as BU limited UMBC to just 39 total points, the lowest of any BU opponent this season. The team held a comfortable lead of at least 20 points for most of the second half, and collected 41 rebounds in 40 minutes of play. Senior forward Kerry Cashman, who said she has been struggling rebound-wise recently, had 14 of them.
“It’s really my strength,” Cashman said. “I just crash [the boards] hard and really put my mind to it.”
Cashman, who was named the AE Player of the Game, also had nine points and two blocks. Junior guard Alex Young led all scorers with 16 points and was 4-8 from beyond the parabola, and UMBC guard Michelle Kurowski—who had a cheering section of eight fans wearing t-shirts that spelled out her name—led her team with 15 points.
Previously, BU opened 2011 at home on Jan. 2 with a 78-40 win over the University of Maine (3-14, 1-4 AE). Sophomore guard Chantell Alford led the way with 22 points, as BU had four players in double figures and scored 38 points off Maine turnovers.
Four days later, the Terriers took down the University of New Hampshire (4-13, 1-4 AE) on the road by a score of 63-43. Junior forward Caroline Stewart scored 19 points, a career high, to go with 10 rebounds in the team’s second straight win.
Stewart recorded her second straight double-double with 16 points and 11 boards as the team beat the University of Vermont (1-16, 1-3 AE) 56-43 on Jan. 9. BU trailed just once—10-8 10 minutes into the first half—but took a lead shortly after and never looked back.
BU extended its win streak to four on Jan. 15 when it defeated the University at Albany (10-7, 3-1 AE) in a battle of the unbeatens. Both teams had conference records of 3-0 entering the game, but Alford was the leading scorer again with 20 points. BU coach Kelly Greenberg recorded her 200th career win as the Terriers took sole possession of first place with a 72-59 win.
“It was really exciting,” Young said of Greenberg’s achievement. “She’s a great coach, we all think the world of her, and that’s a big milestone.”
Cashman agreed, adding that Greenberg—who has said in the past she does not place much emphasis on individuals’ milestones—tried to play it off.
“She’s really humble about it,” Cashman said. “We [were aware], but she didn’t really say anything about it. We congratulated her, but she was more excited that we got a good road win. We were excited, we love her.”
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