2000-01 Season Recap
March 9, 2000 | Women's Basketball
The 2000-01 Boston University women's basketball team started and ended its season on positive notes, with only a lapse in the middle of the year as the sole evidence of a program that is just beginning to turn the corner.
B.U. saw its first double-digit win season in five years, posting a 10-19 record. Head Coach Margaret McKeon watched her program make progress in her second season, a season which included a first-round victory over Hofstra in the America East Conference Tournament last March.
While the team made improvements in the win-loss column, two athletes each received accolades and passed milestones for their efforts. One finished what was one of the finest careers in women's basketball history at B.U., while the other emerged as a rookie that could promise nothing but a stellar future.
During the season, senior Alison Dixon became the second all-time leading scorer in B.U. women's basketball history with 1,648 points. Dixon, a two-time Third-Team America East selection and the 1997-1998 America East Rookie of the Year, was named the team's most valuable player for the third-straight season.
As Dixon saw her graduation in the future, freshman forward Katie Terhune was preparing to step up and make a name for herself. Terhune shattered the B.U. freshman scoring record, tallying 438 points in her first year, passing the previous record of 354 points that Dixon scored in her rookie season. Terhune, a three-time America East Rookie of the Week honoree, was named to the America East All-Rookie Team after leading the team in scoring with a 16.2 points-per-game average. Terhune ranked 12th in the nation and first in the conference in free throw percentage at 88.3 percent and led the team in scoring in 17 of the Terriers' 29 games.
The Terriers opened their season by hosting the first-ever B.U. Invitational, falling to first-round opponent Yale, 81-60, and losing in the consolation game to Miami University (Ohio) in overtime, 102-97. The tournament did offer a glimpse of Terhune's potential, as she led B.U. with 15.5 points per game, hitting 21-of-22 free-throw attempts on the way to being named to the All-Tournament Team.
B.U. traveled to the state of Tennessee for the first time in program history to face 25th-ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville in late November. While the Terriers lost to the Commodores in the first round of the First Tennessee Tournament, 92-56, they captured their first win of the season in the consolation game against Austin Peay, 98-80. Terhune's 30 points in the victory would become the highest single-game point-total for the team during the season. In addition, the team's 98 points and 47 rebounds were both season highs. Dixon and sophomore guard Alison Argentieri had 22 and 20 points, respectively.
Playing in their third-straight tournament to open the season, B.U. defeated the Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 87-63, in the first round of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Tournament. The freshman class came to the fore as Terhune again led the offensive assault, hitting 15-of-16 free-throws and scoring a team-high 27 points while snagging a team-high 10 rebounds. Classmates Courtney Jones and Marisa Moseley each added 12 points and three steals, while junior forward Dia Dufault added 13 points and four assists.
Nearly a month into the season, the freshmen had established themselves as a strong class that could be counted on to contribute. Terhune, Jones, Moseley, and guard Lashaunda Mitchell all saw significant playing time, with Terhune, Jones, and Moseley all working themselves into the starting line-up by mid-season. While Terhune would garner much of the accolades, Jones started at the point in 16 games and took charge in controlling the offense, while Moseley led the Terriers in rebounding six times in the frontcourt and started 18 of the last 19 games of the season.
The Terriers met host Southern Methodist University in the final of the tournament, losing 63-56 despite holding the Mustangs to 28.8 percent shooting for the game. SMU, an NCAA tournament selection the previous season, led 25-16 at the break but their lead shrunk to just 54-50 late in the second half thanks in part to Dufault's 13 second-half points. Terhune, who led the Terriers in scoring for the fifth straight game with 19 points, was named to the All-Tournament Team for the third straight tournament. Dufault registered her first of two double-doubles on the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 boards.
Maine became the third victim of the Terrier's hot streak, as B.U. soundly defeated the Black Bears, 86-64, at home. The Terrier's improved their record to 3-4 behind another all-around performance by Terhune. Following her third-straight America East Rookie of the Week honor, Terhune was given the chance to prove herself in conference play, scoring a team-high 22 points off 10-of-18 shooting, while adding five rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals. Dixon added 16 points and five rebounds while Dufault had nine points and a team-high nine boards. Junior guard Annie Tomasini had six points while dishing out a team-high four assists.
The three-game winning steak came to an end as the Terriers fell to Drexel 88-69. B.U. went on to beat Hofstra 66-62 before falling to 22nd-ranked Tulane University, 110-66.
Dixon reached a milestone in B.U.'s 61-55 win over Wagner. The senior's team-high 15 points moved her into second-place on the Terrier's all-time scoring list, passing Jill Sosnak, whose previous record of 1,430 points had stood since the 1994-1995 season.
B. U. weathered a tough non-conference schedule to emerge with a 5-6 record and a 2-1 conference mark at the New Year's break. But from the start of the January until the middle of February, the Terriers found themselves mired in a 10-game losing streak that took them out of the conference championship race. Nine of the 10 games were against conference opponents, and while four of the 10 losses where by deficits of eight points or less, the Terriers had put themselves in a difficult hole to dig themselves out of with only a few weeks remaining in the season.
The Terriers ended the 10-game skid in mid-February with a 64-53 win at Towson. Terhune shot 7-for-16 for a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds. It was in a 67-56 win over visiting Hartford that Terhune established the B. U. freshman scoring record. Her 17-point effort gave her a season total of 358, surpassing Dixon's 354 points scored in 1997-1998. Ironically, it was Dixon who led the Terriers to their second-straight win, tallying a team-high 24 points and eight rebounds.
In a 61-54 win at Maine, Moseley showed her ability to perform in the paint, scoring a game- and season-high 17 points. She tied her season-high with eight rebounds and had a season-high five blocks. The freshmen Moseley and Jones, and the junior Tomasini would be the only Terriers to appear in all 29 games for B.U.
Following a tough 54-52 loss to New Hampshire, Dixon appeared in her final home game and led the Terriers with 24 points and nine rebounds in a 73-58 win over Northeastern. The win marked an impressive end to the regular season for B.U., which had won four of its last six games, all of which were against conference opponents.
A total team effort propelled the eighth-seed Terriers to an 82-72 win over ninth-seed Hofstra in the first round of the America East Tournament in Burlington, Vt. For the first time all season, all five starters scored in double-figures, led by Dixon's 18 points and 9 rebounds. Jones had 17 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line. Moseley had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Terhune added 11 points and five assists. Dufault chipped in with 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field.
The next day the Terriers fell to top-seeded Delaware, 67-49, in the tourney's quarterfinals. Terhune scored 18 points, her 22nd double-digit scoring effort of the season. Dixon finished her outstanding career with 10 points, placing her second all-time with 1,648.
The 2000-01 women's basketball season was one of transition for the Terriers. B. U. finished the season on a strong note, winning five of its last eight games. With McKeon's three-to-four year plan in its middle stages, and with 11 veterans returning, the future would appear to be at hand.
- Rachel Lieber
