Women's Basketball Edges UMKC, 68-66
November 18, 2006 | Women's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Boston University women’s basketball team (2-0) defeated the University of Missouri-Kansas City (1-3), 68-66, in a thrilling come-from-behind win at UMKC’s Swinmey Recreation Center on Saturday afternoon. Katie Meinhardt, Cheri Raffo and Kristi Dini all scored in double digits and Erica Kovach brought down 13 boards to lead the Terriers to their second straight victory.
Raffo paced the offense with 17 points and Dini was 3-for-6 from behind the 3-point arc and dug in for 13 points. Meinhardt tallied 14 points and had a team-high four assists.
The Terriers went down by as many as 10 points, but fought their way back and with 6:24 remaining Kristen Folk hit a jumper that gave BU the lead for good. The Kangaroos held in and kept the score as close as one point, but the Terrier defense kept the UMKC offense at bay. With nine seconds left UMKC came charging down the court and tried to hit a shot before the buzzer, but BU's defense was able to keep the Kangaroos from scoring.
In the first five minutes of the game, BU and UMKC traded baskets and the Kangaroos took the early lead. UMKC's Jowan Ortega sunk two free throws for the 8-4 advantage. After Ortega’s next basket, Meinhardt came roaring back with a shot of her own to cut the lead to 10-6.
The Terriers came to within one on a Dini jumper at 11:37. After going down by four, Raffo brought the Terriers to within a basket after sinking two free throws with 7:35 remaining in the first half.
Aly Hinton earned a jump ball and on the ensuing inbounds play, Raffo drew a foul and put one in to bring the score again to within one at 6:45. Meinhardt sunk a jumper with eight seconds remaining in the half, but the Kangaroos took the 27-25 advantage into the locker room at the halftime break.
In the second half, the Kangaroos jumped out to a 36-27 lead on a 7-0 run. UMKC upped its lead to 10 at 14:36 on a Brittany Picconi 3-pointer. Meinhardt and Raffo combined to bring the Terriers within four, 46-42, on back-to-back lay-ups.
The Terriers went on a 10-0 run to grab their first lead of the game, but UMKC came back with a jumper to knot the score at 48. Meinhardt hit a jumper to give the Terriers their largest lead, 57-53, and Dini extended it to 60-55 with a 3-pointer with 4:56 remaining.
Over the next two minutes, the Terriers contained UMKC and with 1:08 left, Raffo hit a crucial 3-pointer to put the Terriers up 68-63. On the next possession, UMKC drew a foul and converted on the three-point play to bring the score to within two points and 55 seconds left.
With nine seconds left UMKC called a time out but on the inbounds play BU held off the Kangaroos for the win.
Boston University takes to the court on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 5 p.m., when the Terriers close out their season-opening road stand at Northeastern.
