Terriers Host Rhode Island in Home Opener
November 13, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2007
BOSTON - Following its season-opening victory at Siena, the Boston University women's basketball team will look to put together another winning effort on Tuesday night when it welcomes Atlantic-10 foe Rhode Island to Case Gym at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday's contest marks the first of a three-game homestand.
THE TERRIERS: BU is coming off a 70-66 victory on Saturday afternoon at Siena. Senior Kasey Devine netted a career-high 18 points and the Terriers got another 18-point performance out of junior Jesyka Burks-Wiley, who also brought down a game-high eight boards.
As a team, the Terriers were 20-23 from the free-throw line and shot 43.7 percent for the game.
BU staved off a late rally from Siena and junior Christine Kinneary and sophomore Aly Hinton hit three clutch free throws down the stretch to hold on for the four-point win.
SCOUTING THE RAMS: The Rams opened their season with a commanding 62-43 win over Sacred Heart on Friday, Nov. 9. Senior Safi Mojidi posted a team-high 11 points. Rhode Island trailed just twice early in the first half, but after freshman Megan Shoniker nailed a jumper to tie it up the Rams never fell behind the rest of the way.
URI also got a big night of out Tanja Licina with nine points and seven rebounds, while senior Whitney Hollis led the squad with eight rebounds and three blocks.
As a team, the Rams shot 40 percent from the 3-point arc.
BU VS. URI: The BU-URI rivalry dates back to Feb. 27, 1978 in a 58-34 BU loss in Rhode Island. The series continued through the 80s with the Terriers and Rams splitting, 5-5. BU and URI revived the rivalry last season in Kingston, R.I., with the Terriers taking home an 82-66 victory.
BU VS. THE ATLANTIC 10: BU is 24-26 (.480) against Atlantic 10 schools. It owns winning records against Dayton (1-0), Fordham (3-1), George Washington (1-0) and Temple (2-1).
Last season, BU faced two A-10 opponents when it matched up with URI in the season opener and Dayton in the Dartmouth Tournament on Dec. 29.
The 2007-08 schedule features one other A-10 school, UMass, which will visit The Roof on Nov. 28 at 7:00 p.m.
Under head coach Kelly Greenberg, BU is 2-2 against the conference.
Charlotte, 0-0
Dayton, 1-0
Duquense, 0-0
Fordham, 3-1
George Washington, 1-0
La Salle, 1-2
Massachusetts, 9-10
URI, 6-6
Richmond, 0-1
St. Bonaventure, 0-1
St. Joseph's, 1-4
St. Louis, 0-0
Temple, 2-1
Xavier, 0-0
NEXT TIME OUT: Boston University will host No. 16 Ohio State at Agganis Arena on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 4:00 p.m.The game is the first of a doubleheader with the men's team, which takes on St. Joseph's at 7:00 p.m.
It will be just the second meeting between BU and Ohio State, as the two team's last played on Dec. 14, 1999, in a 79-49 loss in Columbus.
SIMPLY DEVINE: Kasey Devine opened her senior campaign on a strong note with a career-high 18 points. Devine was criticial in the Terriers' 70-66 win at Siena as they held off a late surge by the Saints. Devine was an impressive 7-for-10 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
BURKS-WILEY POSTS 18 AT SIENA: Junior Jesyka Burks-Wiley made the most of her first start since her freshman year, tallying 18 points on 5-for-14 shooting from the field and 6-for-6 free-throw shooting against Siena. The Kansas City, Mo., native also brought down a game-high eight rebounds. It was her first start since March 12, 2006 in the America East championship game vs. Hartford.
TERRIERS' ACCURACY KEY IN SIENA WIN: The Terriers were 20-for-23 from the charity stripe on Nov. 10 at Siena and an impressive .434 (23-53) from the field.
Senior Kasey Devine was the Terriers' most accurate shooter that game, hitting 70.0 (7-10) percent of her shots.
Siena cut the lead to within one point with seven seconds remaining, but clutch free-throw shooting from Christine Kinneary and Aly Hinton helped the Terriers pull away.
HOME OPENERS: BU is 18-14 all-time in home openers, and under head coach Kelly Greenberg the Terriers are 2-1. Last season, they opened Case Gym to a 70-64 loss to Canisius, but had previously defeated Northeastern and Wagner at The Roof.
KINNEARY HAND OUTS: Christine Kinneary handed out a team-high 92 assists in 30 games last season - good for seventh in the conference. She was also sixth in America East in assist/turnover ratio (1.37). Kinneary has picked up where she left off, opening the season with a team-high five hand outs at Siena.
3-POINT SCORING STREAK: The Terriers have successfully hit at least one 3-point attempt in each of the past 133 games, a streak that spans over five seasons. The last time BU went a full game without hitting a 3-pointer was on Feb. 8, 2003 against Binghamton. Within those 133 games, the Terriers have hit 33.5 percent (821-2,448) of their 3-point attempts.
SCHOOL TIES: Freshmen Kat Briggs and Krystyn McIntyre had ties to the women's basketball program before they set foot on campus. Briggs, a native of Georgetown, Texas, graduated from the same high school as recent grad Erica Kovach, while McIntyre attended Scranton Prep and played alongside current teammate Kristen Folk.
BREAKING THE BARRIER:Devine needs just four blocks to reach the 100 plateau in her career and she currently ranks sixth among BU's all-time block leaders.
Classmate Cheri Raffo needs just 10 3-pointers to reach the milestone of 100 treys in her career.
RELIABLE RAFFO: Cheri Raffo has appeared and started in 92 consecutive contests - every game of her collegiate career. If she appears in every scheduled game this season and at least one postseason contest, she will surpass BU's career games played mark held by former teammates Adrienne Norris and Larissa Parr.
TERRIERS AT AGGANIS ARENA: The Terriers have played at Agganis Arena four times since the arena was built in the 2004-05 season and they currently own a three-game winning streak at the facility.
BU will put that streak on the line when they host No. 16 Ohio State on Nov. 17 at 4:00 p.m.
