March 1, 2008

Box Score

STONY BROOK, N.Y. - The Boston University women's basketball team staved off a late Stony Brook rally and calmly drained six free throws in the final minute to defeat the Seawolves, 70-58, on Saturday afternoon at the Stony Brook Arena. Senior Cheri Raffo led with a game-high 25 points, while junior Christine Kinneary poured in 17 points, including a sterling 8-for-8 free-throw shooting performance. BU improves to 16-11 overall and 9-5 in the America East, while SBU falls to 6-21 overall and 1-13 in the conference.

Raffo was 10-for-19 from the field and 5-for-8 from the arc, matching a career high for 3-pointers in a game. Senior Kasey Devine joined Raffo and Kinneary in double figures with 12 on 4-for-8 shooting to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Kinneary was also 4-for-8 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. In addition, she dished out a game-high eight assists and turned the ball over just twice in the game.

The Seawolves came on strong in the final five minutes, going on a 12-2 run that cut the BU advantage from 14 points to four, however, with under a two minutes to go Raffo and Devine each hit jumpers and BU went 6-for-7 from the line to claim the 12-point victory.

BU capitalized on 22 SBU miscues to score 23 points off turnovers, while posting 13 second-chance points. Stony Brook held the slight 42-41 edge in rebounding.

The Terriers and Seawolves traded baskets through the first eight minutes of the contest and Stony Brook lead by three, 15-12, with 11:57 remaining in the first stanza backed by Dana Ferraro's team-high five points. BU and SBU kept within one point of each other over the next four minutes with four lead changes. Raffo drained a three at 9:18 to reclaim the lead and Devine drew a foul five seconds later, sinking both attempts to put BU up by four at 9:13. BU took its largest lead - five points - on a jumper by Raffo to move the score to 23-18. The Seawolves came roaring back to draw to within one, 25-24, on four straight points from Misha Hosey.

The difference in the first half was BU's 3-point shooting as it hit two more than SBU to maintain the lead at the break, 30-28. Misha Hosey nailed a jumper with two seconds on the clock to keep the Seawolves within one possession. At the break, Raffo led all scorers with 13 points.

The Terriers built a seven-point lead, 37-30, on three-straight jumpers, while holding Stony Brook scoreless for over three minutes after it scored the first bucket of the stanza at 19:43. BU went on a 13-0 spurt to jump out to a 13-point advantage, 47-34, at 12:53. BU took its largest lead of the game - 18 points - when Kinneary converted on a three-point play to move the score to 55-37.

A resilient Stony Brook side drew to within four with 2:21 remaining on a 12-2 run to cut the BU lead to 59-55. Devine ended the stretch with a jumper at 1:58 and Raffo nailed another field goal 30 seconds later to help stave off the Seawolves' rally. With under a minute to go clutch free-throw shooting pushed the Terriers back up by 12.

Boston University will return to the court on Wednesday, March 5 when it travels to UMBC for a 7:00 p.m. contest.