the Informer

When Head Coach Kelly Greenberg brought the Terriers into West Hartford for the America East Women’s Championship last March, her team was favored to win the tournament. They had run through the conference to a perfect 16-0 in the regular season with a roster filled with upperclassmen.

How different things are just 12 months later. The Terriers head to Connecticut as the No. 3 seed in the tournament, finishing 11-5 in the conference. One of last year’s seniors, guard Christine Kinneary, is back with the team. Only she is on the bench as a member of the staff, and that senior-laden crew now has a new youthful look.

In fact, Boston University starts two sophomores and two freshmen along with junior center Kerry Cashman. Freshmen guards Chantell Alford and Caitlynn Moran lead the Terriers in minutes played while Alford also leads the team in scoring, netting 15.3 points per game. Moran is third with 12.6 points per contest. Sandwiched between them is sophomore guard Alex Young, who averages just over 14.

Forward Aly Hinton, one of only two seniors on the roster, averages 9.1 points off the bench.

Yes, this team is young, however, it has not made much of a difference against most teams in the conference this season as only three America East teams were able to beat the Terriers. Unfortunately for BU, two of its five conference losses came against UMBC, its opponent in the quarterfinals of the America East tournament.

By no means were those games blowouts. The Retrievers topped the Terriers, 65-63 on the road Jan. 24 and followed that up with another win, 58-57, a month later in Baltimore.

The Terriers could have won either of those games if it were not for poor shooting performances in the second half. When the two teams met Feb. 24, the Terriers held a 23-point lead with 17:14 to play in the second half. They shot just 5-26 from the field for the remainder of the game, letting the Retrievers crawl back into it.
In the second half of both games, BU shot 15-67 from the field and just 5-29 from behind the arc. As a team, the Terriers shot 37.4 percent from the field for the season.

Offense, though, is not this team’s hallmark. It is on the defensive end that they get the job done. In conference play, the Terriers have held teams to under 36 percent shooting and have forced nearly 17 turnovers per game.
Last year, for all of the regular season success and veteran leadership, Boston University still lost in the America East championship game to Vermont. This year’s squad, with grit on the defensive end and a bit more luck offensively, hopes to return to the title game this season. Only this time, they want to win it.