W. basketball to take on Stony Brook

On Thursday, the Boston University women’s basketball team will travel to Stony Brook University to take on the cellar-dwelling Seawolves at 7 p.m. as the Terriers try to continue their recent hot streak.

After opening the season at 3-9, BU (8-9, 5-0 America East) has rattled off five straight conference wins, but BU coach Kelly Greenberg is making sure this newfound success does not get to the team’s head.

“We’ve been talking about how we’re going up the ladder together, one rung at a time, and we’re keeping to that,” Greenberg said. “We can’t allow people to start talking about some kind of winning streak. We have Stony Brook next, and that’s all we’re focusing on.”

Forwards Kirsten Jeter and Destiny Jacobs, who have started 17 and 12 games respectively for the Seawolves (3-14, 0-5 AE), lead the team. Jeter is the only Seawolf to start all 17 games this season.

“Jacobs has pretty good size, and Jeter has been their leading scorer the last few years, so we’re pretty familiar with them,” Greenberg said.

Jeter is averaging 12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, with slightly higher numbers for conference play, and owns a team-high 49 steals on the season. Jacobs leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 per game and chips in an average of 8.6 points.

“We know their strengths. We’re probably just going to play a lot of man [defense] and make sure we don’t give up any easy buckets,” Greenberg said.

A win would improve BU’s record to .500 for the first time since Nov. 17, when the Terriers were 1-1 after an 83-64 win over Yale University, but Greenberg said the team’s overall record is not one of her main concerns.

“I don’t ever think of my team as numbers,” Greenberg said. “I don’t ever think of them in terms of our record. Our conference is the most important thing now, and we think some of these losses we had in the non-conference [portion of the schedule] have made us a stronger team and a better defensive team.”

Greenberg may not be big on numbers, but the numbers certainly back her up when it comes to the defense. Since the New Year and the beginning of the Terriers’ winning streak, they have allowed more than 50 points just once, and that was in a 72-59 win over the University of Albany on Jan. 15. Greenberg attributes the strong defensive efforts the team’s recent ability to focus.

“I think our focus led by [senior center] Kerry Cashman and [junior forward] Caroline Stewart has been really, really strong. Each team we’ve played runs different looks, and our preparation and focus have been really top-notch,” Greenberg said.

That same Albany team went on to defeat the Seawolves on Jan. 18 by a score of 67-55. For Stony Brook, it was the 11th straight loss, seven of which have come by double digits.
Greenberg also said the team’s overall preparation has played a hand in the turnaround.

“Our staff has been very consistent in really preparing our team for every game. We’ve been working on knowing very team’s offense and knowing exactly what they’re going to do,” Greenberg said.

Due to the apparent disparity between BU and Stony Brook, Greenberg and her staff have the extra task of making sure the team does not sleep on the Seawolves.

“That’s always the toughest challenge in a game like this. Things are going pretty well for us, but you can always have that game where you just think it’s going to happen because you’re better,” Greenberg said. “Stony Brook’s not going to walk out there and say, ‘OK, BU, you’re better.’”