Women's Basketball Opens Season Friday at Rhode Island
November 13, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2008
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BOSTON - The Boston University women's basketball team will open its 2008-09 campaign on Friday (Nov. 14) when it heads to Rhode Island for a 5 p.m. tipoff. The Terriers will be looking to build off their historic 2007-08 season, where they reached 20 wins for the first time in 20 years and made the America East conference finals for the fifth time in six years.
Head coach Kelly Greenberg returns a solid group of senior veterans in Christine Kinneary, Jesyka Burks-Wiley, Amarachi Umez-Eronini and Kristi Dini.
Kinneary, a 2008 America East All-Conference Third Team member, finished the season ranked third nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.68) and eighth in assists per game (6.7).
Burks-Wiley was named a second-team all-conference honoree after returning to form in 2007-08, following injuries the previous season. Last year, she went on to lead the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 ppg). In addition, she recorded double figures in 24 games, including 10 straight from Dec. 11 to Jan. 30.
Umez-Eronini was an AE all-defensive team selection and led the squad in steaks with 58, while Dini - the Terriers' three-point sharp-shooter - continued to knock down treys, including her memorable half-court buzzer-beater on Jan. 5.
In addition to the senior veterans, BU brings back experience in junior Aly Hinton, who was a regular in the Terriers' frontcourt rotation.
The BU-URI rivalry dates back to Feb. 27, 1978, a 58-34 BU loss in Rhode Island. The series continued through the 1980s with the Terriers and Rams splitting, 5-5. BU and URI renewed the rivalry in 2006 in Kingston, R.I., with the Terriers taking home an 82-66 victory, and followed up with a 77-56 triumph on Nov. 13 of last year to take a 7-6 advantage in the all-time series record.
In last season's meeting at Case Gym, Kinneary scored a then-career-high 17 points to spark BU's victory. The Terriers also got a big night out of Kasey Devine with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Burks-Wiley and Umez-Eronini notched 10 points apiece.
The Rams were recently picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10 by the conference's head coaches and the media. URI was 13-18 overall and 5-9 in the A-10 in 2007-08 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the league tournament.
Head coach Tom Garrick has compiled a non-conference schedule that features four teams that advanced to the 2008 NCAA tournament.
Returning for Rhody this season is a slew of seniors who were vital in last season's turnaround. In 2006-07, URI finished with a 6-23 record, but made a marked improvement with its 13-18 record last season.
Headlining that group is senior guard Amanda McGrew, who returns as the team's leading scorer with 9.5 ppg. Joining her in the backcourt is classmate Crystal Bellinger (6.1 ppg) and junior Lindsay Harris (2.8 ppg). In the frontcourt, seniors Sierra Copper (7.4 ppg) and Tanja Licina (5.3 ppg) lead the charge.
