Terriers host Hartford looking to make history

It’s been 20 years since it last happened, but on what is arguably one of the most important days in recent memory for Boston University athletics, it will happen once again.

On Saturday, Case Gymnasium and the BU women’s basketball team will be hosting the America East Conference championship game.

For the first time since 1990, the Terriers will play for the AE title at home against University of Hartford. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Case Gym and on ESPN3.com.

“It’s been pretty darn long,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg of the 21-year drought. “It’s for all the players over the years who never had the opportunity to play a championship game at home. I received a lot of emails from a lot of [former] players that played here for four years and are very excited, so it’s not just for our group.”

The Hawks (16-15, 11-5 AE) – who entered the tournament as the fourth seed and upset first-seeded University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the semifinals – have won 10 of their last 11 games dating all the way back to the end of January. On the other side of the court, the second-seeded Terriers (17-13, 12-4 AE) have not had as much success, going only 7-4 in that same month-and-a-half stretch, but have won three straight games with some of their strongest basketball of the season.

With that, both teams are riding waves of momentum that would likely give them an advantage if they were playing anybody but each other.

“It’s a lot of hoopla all week about this team and how we have the home game, which is fantastic, but once the game starts, that’s it,” Greenberg said. “They have as much momentum as we do, and it’s going to be a really good game all around. I think both teams play hard, and obviously we have a lot of history with each other. It’s going to be a tough battle out there.”

That the teams “have a lot of history with each other” is no understatement. BU leads the all-time series just 29-28, and this game will mark the fourth time in the last seven years the two schools will battle for the AE championship. Hartford has won the previous three championship meetings.

BU and Hartford also split the regular season series 1-1, with the home team winning both games. On Jan. 23 at Case Gym, the Terriers won 58-50, but they fell 66-59 when they visited Hartford on Feb. 13. In both cases, the team that won the battle of the boards also won the battle on the scoreboard.

Greenberg said rebounding will again be a key in this rubber match.

“It is a big deal,” Greenberg said. “As our stat sheet will show you the last few games, rebounding is going to win the championship. With our team defense this past weekend and our rebounding, we have to carry over what we did to this game. [Hartford] plays hard, they’re aggressive on the boards and their best offense sometimes is their offensive rebounding.”

Senior center Kerry Cashman and junior forward Caroline Stewart lead the team in rebounding, who pull down 8.7 and 7.7 rebounds per game, respectively. Forward Ruthanne Doherty leads Hartford with 5.9 per game, but Hartford’s team average of 34.2 nearly matches BU’s 36.5.

A not-so-minor side note to this game is what the winner receives besides the conference glory: a much-coveted berth in the NCAA tournament. For BU, it would be the first time since 2003 that it would enter the field of 64.

“It means everything,” Greenberg said. “I think for every team in the fall, that’s your goal: to get to the ‘Big Dance.’ It will mean a lot, not just to our group, but to our parents, our families, and everyone that’s played here.”

When it comes to the intensity and possible bad blood between the teams, Greenberg may have put it best after BU’s win over Hartford on Jan. 23: “There is no question that they have been our rivals the last few years. There is not a lot of love out there.”