2001-02 Season In Review
April 15, 2002 | Women's Basketball
After spending two seasons laying down the blueprints for a successful program, head coach Margaret McKeon used her third year at the helm to lead the Boston University women's basketball team to their best record-and first winning season-in seven years and a second-place finish in the America East conference.
Boasting a 17-11 overall record, the 2001-02 squad featured B.U.'s most prolific scorer since Olympian Debbie Palmore-Miller in guard Katie Terhune, a First Team All-Conference selection as the league's leading scorer, averaging 18.6 points per game. In just her sophomore season, Terhune scored 503 points in 27 games, the third-highest season point total in the program's 27-year history.
Terhune paired with junior guard Alison Argentieri to form one of the most lethal backcourts in the league. The duo provided a spark from long-range, combining to hit more than half of the team's three-pointers (84) while connecting on 37.5 percent of its chances. Defensively, Terhune and Argentieri paced the Terriers full- and half-court trapping defenses, with Terhune snagging a team-high 44 steals on the season.
Youth provided the punch in the frontcourt, with freshmen Adrienne Norris and Larissa Parr and sophomore Marisa Moseley giving the Terriers a strong and reliable inside presence. Norris would earn All-Rookie Team honors after becoming the first Terrier rookie in 12 years to lead the team in rebounding, averaging 6.4 boards per game.
The Terriers opened the season hosting the second annual B.U. Invitational, losing to South Florida in the first round, 76-70, and defeating Georgia Southern, 70-55, in the consolation game. Terhune, who opened the season with an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double against USF, earned All-Tournament honors for her efforts.
The victory over Georgia Southern would jump-start a five-game win streak for B.U. Argentieri scored a career-high 25 points on 6-for-7 shooting from behind the three-point line as the Terriers defeated NCAA tournament participant-Harvard, 93-77. The Terriers won their first tournament since the 1988-89 season when they routed Delaware State, 75-51, and edged host Lehigh, 75-71, to capture the Christmas City Classic. Sophomore guard Lashaunda Mitchell scored a career-high 12 points in 19 minutes of action against Delaware State and junior forward Rachel Werner added five points and three rebounds. Terhune scored a game-high 24 points against Lehigh to garner Tournament MVP honors. Moseley, who averaged 12.5 points and six rebounds in the two-day event, joined Terhune on the All-Tournament Team.
In a two-game swing in Texas, the Terriers knocked-off Sam Houston State, 59-49, with eight points and nine rebounds from Ashley Carr. The sophomore forward led the Terriers on the boards for the first half of the season before a re-occurring knee injury forced her to endure her second knee surgery in two years.
Continuing their southern trip, the Terriers had their win streak snapped, falling to 12th-ranked Baylor, 81-56, as All-American Sheila Lambert scored a team-high 19 points for the Bears. Despite the loss, the Terriers proved they were able to hang with the one of the nation's top teams and block out the 3,754 fans packed into Baylor's Ferrell Center. Terhune scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the first half as B.U. trailed 40-30 at the break.
The Terriers bounced back from the loss in Texas with a 76-67 win over Ivy League-foe Yale. Terhune scored 14 of her game-high 33 points in the final eight minutes and connected on 14-of-16 from the free throw line in the game. Terhune would break her own school record, set last season as a freshman, of 121 free throws made, hitting 141-of-170 during the 2001-02 season. Terhune ranked second in the league with an 82.9 free throw percentage.
All-American Susan Moran scored a game-high 34 points as Saint Joseph's won 59-49 at B.U. in the Terriers first home game in over a month. B.U. quickly moved on from the non-conference loss to the Hawks by defeating Central Connecticut State, 82-48. The 34-point win was the largest margin of victory in five years for a Terrier team.
Conference USA Player of the Year Teana McKiver scored a team-high 23 points to lead 22nd-ranked Tulane to a 78-63 victory over B.U. Terhune scored a game-high 26 points but the Terriers failed to slow down McKiver, who shot 9-for-13 from the floor and had nine rebounds.
The Tulane game marked the beginning of a brief mid-season slump for the Terriers, who lost three of their next four games to open the conference schedule.
Terhune brought the Terriers back on track, netting a career-high 35 points against Northeastern. Sophomore guard Courtney Jones, who was the Terriers' first option off the bench all season, added 13 as B.U. won its first of four straight conference games. Terhune earned her third America East Player of the Week honor following the 35-point outburst.
The last of the four wins came at Hartford as an undermanned B.U. squad knocked-off the eventual conference champion Hawks, 50-41. With Terhune and Moseley out with the flu, Jones scored 12 points, while Norris and Parr each added 10. Parr, who entered the starting line-up when Carr was hindered by the knee injury, finished the season with a team-best 46.5 field goal percentage and tied for second on the team in scoring, averaging 8.0 points per game. Parr's confidence grew as the season progressed. The Terriers had an 8-3 record with her in the starting lineup.
Sandwiched between losses to Vermont and New Hampshire, the Terriers defeated Maine, 76-65, behind stellar performances from freshman Norris and Parr. Norris recorded team-highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds and Parr added 16 points and eight rebounds.
The Terriers completed season-sweeps of Northeastern and Albany and earned a season-split with Stony Brook, handing the Seawolves a 63-48 loss. Seniors Annie Tomasini, Anne Nelson, and Dia Dufault made the final home starts of their careers. Tomasini, who missed 14 of B.U.'s first 18 games with a broken wrist, had her best performance of the season, contributing 10 points, three assists, two rebounds, and a steal.
Maine took the second game of the home-and-home series, winning 67-64, despite a 26-point effort from Terhune.
The Terriers secured the second-seed in the conference tournament for the first time in 12 years with a gutsy 68-64 overtime win at New Hampshire. Terhune, limited to 22 minutes with a stomach virus, scored seven of her game-high 18 points in the extra period. The Terriers were down with less than six minutes to go when Dufault, starting in place of Terhune, sparked a B.U. comeback with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Dufault finished the season ranked sixth in the Terrier recordbook in steals (174) and eighth in three-pointers (58). Moseley tied a career-high with five blocks against the Wildcats and totaled 58 career blocks in her first two seasons, ranking eighth in the Terrier recordbook.
B.U. was the first of the top four seeds to be knocked-out of the America East tournament, falling 63-46 to seventh-seeded Stony Brook.
With the experience of putting together a balanced, capable unit that enjoyed a winning campaign, the Terriers will look to the 2002-03 season to continue to forge a new tradition of success with all five starters returning, a core of veterans coming off the bench, and three new recruits to bolster the lineup.
