March 5, 2008

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. - The Boston University women's basketball team drained a program-record 16 3-pointers and was led by junior Christine Kinneary with 19 points, as it defeated league foe UMBC, 79-60, on Wednesday evening at the RAC Arena. Kinneary was joined in double figures by seniors Cheri Raffo and Corinne Jean with 15 and 12 points, as well as juniors Kristi Dini and Jesyka Burks-Wiley with 12 and 11, as the Terriers improve to 17-11 overall 10-5 in the America East conference. UMBC falls to 9-19 overall and 5-10 in league play.

The Terriers broke the school mark that was previously set on March 9, 2005 vs. Stony Brook. Kinneary had a career-high four 3-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field with seven assists and no turnovers to earn America East's Player of the Game honors. Raffo became the Terriers' all-time minutes leader during the game and has now played in 3638 minutes in the scarlet and white.

BU was an impressive 16-for-24 from the arc and 30-for-63 from the field. The Terriers forced 20 Retrievers miscues and scored 19 off turnovers, while posting 14 in the paint and 26 off the bench. BU also held the slight 31-30 edge in rebounding.

Burks-Wiley and junior Amarachi Umez-Eronini led with six rebounds apiece and senior Kasey Devine contributed five assists and two blocks and two steals. Umez-Eronini also had a team-high four steals.

In the first five minutes of the contest, BU and UMBC traded baskets and the Retrievers held the slight 9-8 edge, backed by its three straight 3-pointers. Devine and Burks-Wiley combined for the Terriers' first eight points. Kinneary converted on a three-point play to give BU an 11-9 advantage, but UMBC's sharp shooting from the arc reclaimed the lead and gave it an 18-14 lead with 11:47 on the clock.

The Terriers came storming back with a 19-2 run to move the score to 31-20 in BU's favor. During the a six-minute stretch, BU's defense remained stingy holding the Retrievers scoreless, forcing five turnovers and earning three steals. In the latter part of the first stanza, BU could not miss a trey, sinking eight straight to increase BU's lead to 46-24. Burks-Wiley nailed one more jumper with 28 seconds left to take a commanding 48-26 advantage into the locker rooms at halftime.

At the break, Kinneary led all scorers with 12 points including a career-high three treys. BU was an impressive 11-for-14 from behind the arc and 54.5 percent from the field. UMBC relied heavily on Meghan Colabella and Chantay Frazier in the first stanza with 10 and nine points, respectively. BU also forced eight turnovers, while turning the ball over just three times and dishing out 13 assists.

UMBC opened the second half on an 11-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 13 points, 50-37, with 15:52 remaining in regulation. Jean drained two more treys over the next three minutes and Cashman and Kinneary moved the score to 62-45 at 9:15. with under three minutes to go Raffo nailed a trey to tie the program record of 14 3-pointers in a game, and a minute later Kinneary broke the record with a three from the same point, moving the score to 76-56. BU and UMBC traded baskets at the end to round out the scoring at 79-60.

BU will host the regular-season finale at Case Gym on Saturday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m. In a pre-game ceremony the Terriers will honor their three seniors.