Women’s Basketball: Terriers Prepare to Host Rival Boston College
By: Andrew Mason
It’s rivalry time for Boston University.
The 2-2 Terriers welcome the Eagles of Boston College through the doors of Case Gym on Sunday for their only face off of the year. BU looks to grab its first victory against the cross-town foes in the Katy Steding era, currently posting a 0-3 record against BC under the fourth year head coach.
BU comes into the contest off a 80-70 defeat last Tuesday at Harvard. Freshman Katie Nelson, who took home the most recent Patriot League Rookie of the Week award, continued her hot streak, recording 19 points and 5 assists in the loss. She continues to lead the scarlet and white in minutes played with 38.5 per game.
Senior co-captain Corinne Williams displayed one of her best performances as a Terrier on Tuesday, reeling in 17 points to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Much of her work was done in the second half with an injured wrist, which she revealed after the game.
On the last play of the second quarter, Williams fell backwards on her left wrist. She completed the game with the injury, grabbing 13 of her 17 points in the third and fourth quarters. However, for Williams, a lefty, taking care of the wrist has been a major point of emphasis in preparation for BC.
“The wrist is feeling stronger every day,” Williams said after Friday’s practice. “My trainer and coaches have been limiting me the past few days just so I don’t re-injure it or make it worse.”
Williams and the other four seniors on the squad have never beaten the Eagles in their time at BU. An all-time series record of 13-10 in favor of BC has been made possible by four straight Eagle victories. In 2016, BU fell 67-49 in Chestnut Hill.
“It would be awesome to beat BC,” said Williams. “It would be a good spark for us to win at home before we go back on the road for a few away games.”
The Eagles (3-2) are headed by freshman guard Milan Bolden-Morris, who averages 14.6 points per game. The Florida-native has proved herself a deadly shooter early in her career, shooting 47 percent from the field, including 42 percent from downtown.
In addition to Bolden-Morris, BC’s scoring is spread wide, with three other Eagles putting up double-digit numbers on a regular basis.
Through each of their first four games, the Terriers have had at least one quarter in which they gave up 24 points or more. On Tuesday night, the Crimson grabbed 25 points in the third quarter against BU’s defense.
“For us right now it’s about locking in on defense and getting stops when teams start to take a run on us,” Williams explained. “The more we can focus on our defense and our full court pressure I think it will eliminate the lulls we have.”
Eradicating “lulls” has been a focus point for this team since early in the offseason. If the Terriers can put an end to their weak defensive quarters and play a complete game, they have a good shot at moving above .500 against BC.
The game is scheduled to tip on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. inside Case Gym.