The Boston University women’s basketball team will hit the road and face off against University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Thursday in a battle for first place in the America East conference. The Terriers will attempt to put an end to their recent two-game losing streak, which includes their only two in-conference losses of the season.
After beginning their AE schedule with 10 consecutive wins, the Terriers (13-11, 10-2 AE) have lost two straight against conference opponents. First the team lost to University of Albany 77-68 on Feb. 9 before falling to rival Hartford 66-59 on Feb. 13.
“Both games, we put the other team on the line way too much,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg. “We need to play better team defense and we cannot be fouling as much.”
For UMBC (16-10, 10-3 AE), its loss to BU on Jan. 17 seems to have been a turning point in the season, as the team is 7-1 since losing at Case Gymnasium. The Retrievers are second place in AE and if they win on Thursday, they will jump ahead of BU.
“This is kind of our Super Bowl game,” Greenberg said. “We feel like we really know what UMBC runs, so we are just focusing in on being more ready.”
The Terriers defeated the Retrievers 65-39 on Jan. 17. BU dominated the game defensively and in the low post, scoring 24 points in the paint and grabbing 41 rebounds.
“I don’t take a whole lot from the first matchup, to be honest,” Greenberg said. “They are much better at home, probably more so than any other team in our conference.”
UMBC is undefeated at home within the conference, and Baltimore could be a tough place for the Terriers to travel coming off these two losses.
One common theme in the back-to-back losses is a lack of rebounding. The Terriers were outrebounded in their losses against Albany and Hartford, which led to plenty of second-chance opportunities for the opposition.
“People say defense wins championships,” Greenberg said, “but I don’t believe in that. I think rebounding wins championships, because if you play good defense and they still get the board, it doesn’t matter.”
Another reason for the recent struggles has been BU’s slow starts. The team has struggled shooting within the opening few minutes, which allows its opponents to build momentum and, at times, a lead.
“We have to be the aggressor from the get-go and that’s on both ends of the floor,” Greenberg said.
The Terriers are hitting their final stretch with only four games remaining in the regular season. While BU sits in first place right now in the AE standings, they know that a strong finish is necessary to end the season with the top seed going into the conference tournament.
“We are looking at these next few games as a mini-series,” Greenberg said, “We have to take care of business. These are two very, very big games and we cannot be worried about what anyone else is doing we just have to play better basketball, and that’s on me.”
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