Women’s Basketball: Terriers Travel to Winless Bryant Wednesday Night

By: Andrew Mason

BOSTON — Coming off a 61-57 victory against rival Boston College at home on Sunday, the Terriers hit the road once again, this time making their way to Smithfield, R.I. to battle the 0-5 Bryant University Bulldogs of the Northeast Conference. Wednesday is BU’s fourth road contest in the last five games.

After earning her second straight Patriot League Rookie of the Week award, point guard Katie Nelson is set to get her sixth straight start of the year. The freshman out of Falmouth, Mass. has led the Terriers in points (15.4), assists (5.2), steals (2.8) and minutes (37.6) per game.

With senior co-captain Corinne Williams’ left wrist just about fully recovered from a mid-game fall at Harvard before Thanksgiving, the Terriers will be at full strength for tonight’s action.

Although the Bulldogs have not been on the positive side of a game all season, the Terriers have to be careful to not let their guard down as they did at the end of the game against BC. With a comfortable 19-point lead, BU gave up a 17-2 run to the Eagles in the closing minutes, making it much closer than it needed to be. That lackadaisical play will not suffice against the Bryant on Wednesday.

Two of the last three Bulldog losses have come in overtime, including a 59-57 fall to the Patriot League’s Holy Cross on Sunday. It is likely Bryant employs a full-court press throughout most of the game, something the Terriers struggled to break against BC.

BU and Bryant have played the same opponent only once so far this season; the Bulldogs dropped their season-opener, 65-42, to the BC Eagles earlier this month.

The Terriers are just 1-2 away from Case Gym, their lone win thanks to Nelson’s game-clinching 3-pointer in overtime at Delaware. In order to lock down and come away with another road victory, BU needs to keep sophomore Sydney Holloway in check. The versatile guard/forward comes into tonight’s game averaging 15.6 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game.

BU should have a clear advantage shooting from beyond the arc. At 23.9 percent from downtown, the Bulldogs average less than four 3-pointers per game. On the other hand, the Terriers average seven per game off of 40.2 percent shooting. To put this imbalance in perspective, BU’s Nelson averages just about as many 3-point buckets (3.4) per game as the entire Bulldogs’ roster (3.5).

The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 29 inside Chase Athletic Center.