Women's Basketball Hosts Harvard on Tuesday
December 11, 2006 | Women's Basketball
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BOSTON - The Boston University women’s basketball team (5-4) returns to Case Gym for only the second time this season, when it hosts cross-town foe Harvard University (1-6) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. BU and Harvard have met a combined 21 times on the court in a series that dates back to the 1976-77 season. The Terriers have won the two most recent meetings with the Crimson.
THE TERRIERS: Boston University’s two-game winning streak was snapped as the Terriers fell to Delaware on Sunday afternoon. Senior Katie Meinhardt put up 24 points, however the Terriers were unable to overcome Delaware’s 13-3 run that started at the end of the first half and carried over into the first three minutes of the second half.
Meinhardt leads the Terriers in points per game (15.4), assists per game (3.1) and minutes per game (34.3). Classmate Erica Kovach is the team and conference leader in rebounds per game (7.9).
The Terriers have faced two ranked opponents this season – No. 7 UConn on Nov. 28 and No. 13/12 Arizona State on Dec. 1. BU’s most recent opponent, Delaware, received votes in both the AP and ESPN Coaches’ polls this week.
Following tonight’s game, the Terriers will host St. John’s at 1 p.m., on Sunday.
LAST TIME OUT: Despite senior tri-captain Katie Meinhardt’s 24-point performance Boston University dropped a 79-59 decision to the University of Delaware on Sunday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Meinhardt and Delaware’s Tyresa Smith led all scorers with 24 points apiece. Meinhardt’s 20+-point performance was the 10th of her career and second this season. Senior tri-captain Erica Kovach and freshman Aly Hinton scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON: The Crimson hold a 1-6 record coming into tonight’s contest. Harvard won its first game of the season, 83-62, against San Jose State on Dec. 3 as part of the Contra Costa Times Classic in Berkeley, Calif. Prior to that, the Crimson had lost all six of its contests. All five Harvard starters scored in double figures against the Spartans. In Harvard’s other game in the Classic, the Crimson lost, 96-54, to California-Berkeley on Dec. 2.
Harvard currently is on the third leg of a four-game road swing. The Crimson next faces Wisconsin.
A trio of sophomore guards lead Harvard - Niki Finelli with 15.4 ppg and 5.4 rpg; Emily Tay with 11.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, and 5.4 apg; and Lindsay Hallion with 11.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg.
The make up of the team is relatively young. The Crimson’s depth comes from its juniors and sophomores, whose nine players make up 75 percent of the roster. Head coach Kathy Delany-Smith is in her 25th season at Harvard’s helm. She has an overall record of 368-269 (.578) and an Ivy League mark of 223-105 (.683). Delany-Smith has led her teams to nine conference titles and five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, the last coming in 2003.
BU VS. HARVARD: The rivalry between Boston University and Harvard is a close one, with the Crimson leading 11-10 in the 29-year-old series. The two teams played from 1976-77 to 1980-81 consecutively and twice from 1986-88 before the rivalry began being contested annually since 1992-93. The Terriers are 4-5 at home, 5-4 on the road and 2-1 at neutral sites against Harvard. BU’s average margin of victory is 18.4 points and average margin of defeat is 12.0. The Terriers’ biggest win came in 1979-80 at Laivetes Pavilion, when BU defeated Harvard by 39 points (88-49). Harvard’s biggest victory was also by more than 30 points, as the Crimson held the Terriers to just 49 points in an 83-49 decision at Case Gym in 1993-94. Harvard’s longest win streak in the series is three games, from 1987-88 to 1993-94. BU’s longest streak of victories is five games (1977-78 to 1986-87). The Terriers currently are riding a two-game winning streak - both games won by head coach Kelly Greenberg.
BU VS. THE IVY LEAGUE: The Terriers are 7-2 against current Ivy League opponents in the last five years, with most of the contests coming against Harvard. BU is 2-0 against Brown, 2-0 against Yale, and 3-2 in games against the Crimson. Current BU head coach Kelly Greenberg is 2-0 against the Crimson in her first two years at the helm for the Terriers. The only other Ivy League team she has faced is Brown and both were wins.
BU’s first win against Brown came at Brown on Dec. 7, 2005 by a score of 73-59. Last Wednesday, the Terriers picked up a 60-59 victory over the Bears on Meinhardt’s game-winning shot.
The Terriers faced Yale at the Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va. on Dec. 29, 2005 and came away with a 53-41 win. Prior to that, BU’s only meeting with the Bulldogs was on Dec. 5, 2001 when the Terriers defeated Yale 76-67 in New Haven, Conn.
NEXT TIME OUT: For the first time this season, the Terriers will host back-to-back home games. Following today’s game with Harvard, BU will take on St. John’s on Sunday at 1 p.m., in Case Gym. St. John’s leads the series, 9-1. BU’s lone win came during the 1979-80 season in a high-scoring 90-81 BU victory. BU traveled to Jamaica, N.Y., last season in the season-opener, which St. John’s took by a 64-53 margin.
MEINHARDT EARNS AE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS: Senior tri-captain Katie Meinhardt has earned America East Player of the Week honors, as announced by the conference office today. Meinhardt combined for 43 points in two games last week, including her late heroics against Brown on Wednesday. She followed up with a 24-point performance at Delaware on Sunday and is currently averaging 15.4 points per game - a career high.
Meinhardt, who earns her first career player of the week honor, helped lead the Terriers to a 1-1 record last week. She posted 19 points including the game-winning shot with just two second remaining against Brown on Wednesday at Agganis Arena. The Terriers won that game by a 60-59 margin.
On Sunday, the Terriers fell to Delaware, however Meinhardt put up 24 points, including six from 3-point range.
Meinhardt needs just 38 more points to hit the 1,000-point mark, as she stands at 962 career points. She currently ranks second in the conference in scoring with 15.4 ppg.
GREENBERG FACES FAMILIAR FOE: Head coach Kelly Greenberg will be facing a familiar opponent in tonight’s game. Greenberg spent five years at the helm at the University of Pennsylvania before taking over the reigns in Boston. As a member of the Ivy League, Greenberg and the Quakers were 5-5 against the Crimson. With her two wins over Harvard during her tenure at BU, Greenberg is 7-5 all-time against the Crimson as a head coach.
TERRIERS IN THE CONFERENCE: A number of Terriers currently rank in this week’s America East statistics. Following the quick jump-start to the season, four individuals have set themselves apart and climbed to the top of the statistics.
Senior Katie Meinhardt is second with an average of 15.4 points per game, following her productive week where she combined for 43 points in two games. Senior Erica Kovach continues to sit atop the conference in rebounding (7.9), while freshman Aly Hinton is sixth in rebounding with 6.2 rpg. Meinhardt is sixth in assists (3.11 apg).
The duo of freshmen Kristen Folk and Aly Hinton rank fifth and seventh in blocked shots, as Folk has recorded 1.33 bpg, while Hinton is close behind with 1.00.
As a team, the Terriers have the second-highest scoring offense (66.1 ppg). BU is tops in blocks per game (4.44) and in 3-point field goals made (6.44).
