Nov. 25, 2008

Box Score

BOSTON - The Boston University women's basketball team (3-2) erased an 11-point second-half deficit backed by a 23-point performance from senior Jesyka Burks-Wiley and 16 points from classmate Kristi Dini to give BU a 71-68 victory over cross-town rival Northeastern on Tuesday evening. The Huskies made a late charge to bring the game to within one point with six seconds left, but clutch free-throw shooting from junior Aly Hinton gave BU the 71-68 triumph.

Hinton chipped in 12 points in the victory, while Burks-Wiley recorded her first double-double of the season with 10 boards to go along with her 23 points. Kendra Walton led the Huskies with 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

As a team, BU dished out 14 assists, while only turning the ball over nine times. The Terriers also got 15 point off the bench, while Northeastern's bench produced seven points.

Both squads came out firing on all cylinders with end-to-end action as Northeastern enjoyed a 15-10 advantage by the 14:16 mark, while Dini and Umez-Eronini combined to score the Terriers' first 10 points of the contest. Over the next eight minutes, the Terriers and Huskies battled back-and-forth, with Northeastern holding a slim 25-21 edge with 7:14 remaining in the half. Dini continued to drain 3-pointers, reaching 15 points with four minutes remaining in the stanza on 5-for-7 shooting from behind the arc.

To close out the half, Kendra Walton netted 10 of the Huskies' final 15 points, while Dini and Hinton scored 10 of BU's 11 final points. Northeastern took a 37-33 lead into the locker rooms at halftime and Dini led all players with 16 points at the break.

To start the second half, the Huskies took an 11-point lead, 49-38, backed by a 7-0 spurt and five-straight points from Kendra Walton. After finding itself in an double-digit hole, 49-38, BU began to dig itself out, cutting the deficit to six points on back-to-back layups from sophomore Kerry Cashman and Kinneary and a trey from Burks-Wiley.

Freshman Alex Young made it a one-possession game, 53-50, with a trey at 8:56, and Umez-Eronini brought the Terriers to within one point with 6:32 remaining. Kinneary gave BU its first lead of the game when she made a layup to bring the score to 57-56. After coming up with a steal in the offensive end less than a minute later, she then extended BU's lead to three, 59-56.

Burks-Wiley gave the Terriers a six-point lead, 64-58, with back-to-back field goals with under four minutes in regulation. In a race to the end, the Huskies drew to within one point with six seconds left, 69-68, but Hinton hit both of her free throws and BU defended its end to hold on for the 71-68 win.

BU takes on No. 20 Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 29 in the first game of the Buckeye Classic.