Jan. 9, 2009
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BOSTON - The Boston University women's basketball team (7-6, 1-0 AE) will look to make it three in a row when it hosts Vermont (7-7, 1-0 AE) on Saturday (Jan. 10) at Case Gym. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. Both squads won their conference openers, as the Terriers claimed a 72-59 victory over Stony Brook, while the Catamounts cruised to an 81-52 win versus UMBC.
THE TERRIERS: BU, which opened its America East slate with a victory for the third-straight year, is fresh off a 72-59 triumph at Stony Brook, backed by solid performances from its senior class. Each member of the group tallied double figures, led by Jesyka Burks-Wiley's double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. A 13-2 run to close out the game expanded BU's lead from two to 13 over the final four minutes.
BU owns the league's best free throw percentage (.721), and is second in the America East in scoring (73.9 ppg), assist/turnover ratio (0.8) and 3-point field goals (79).
BU's senior class continues to shine as the four members of the group currently hold the top four spots on the squad in scoring. Jesyka Burks-Wiley is averaging 16.4 points per game - good for second in America East scoring - and she is followed by Kristi Dini (12.8 ppg), Christine Kinneary (11.7 ppg) and Amarachi Umez-Eronini (9.8 ppg). BU is the only team in the conference with four players in the top 20 for scoring.
Burks-Wiley, who has reached double figures in 11-of-13 games in 2008-09, is 63 points away from reaching the 1,000-point plateau, while Kinneary needs just 33 handouts to break the program's all-time assist record.
THE CATAMOUNTS: Vermont opened its conference play with a convincing 82-51 win over UMBC, as junior Courtnay Pilypaitis recorded a double-double with a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds. Classmate May Kotsopoulos and sophomore Tonya Young added 16 and 14 points, respectively, while Kotsopoulos dished out a game-best seven assists.
Pilypaitis and Kotsopoulos are an impressive duo, ranking consistently each week at the top of numerous America East categories. Pilypaitis is second only to Kinneary in assists per game (4.9), while claiming the top spot in rebounds per game (8.3) and ranking third in scoring (15.5 ppg). Kotsopoulos, the conference's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, is currently first in steals per game (2.6) and is averaging 14.7 ppg.
Vermont has one of the conference's best defenses, holding opponents to .393 field goal shooting and .287 from behind the arc.
BU VS. VERMONT: The Terriers and Catamounts have met a combined 59 times. It is tied for the second-oldest rivalry in BU's program history with UNH, behind only Maine (62 contests). BU leads the series, 32-27, and has won 11 of the last 14 contests. The series began on Nov. 29, 1978, in a 75-53 BU victory. The Terriers rattled off 16 straight wins in the series - going undefeated in the 1980s - before succumbing to Vermont for the first time on Feb. 3, 1990, by a 66-52 margin. The Catamounts made it two in a row with a victory on Jan. 19, 1991, 71-67, before the Terriers split the season series that year with a 54-53 decision.
Vermont strung together six consecutive victories from Jan. 18, 1992, to Jan. 15, 1994. During the mid-1990s both teams traded wins, however, on March 3, 1996, Vermont began a streak of 15 consecutive wins that would be its longest in the series history.
The recent history between BU and UVM has only increased the intensity of the rivalry as the squads have met in four of the last six America East tournaments.
LAST TIME OUT VS. VERMONT (March 15, 2008): Boston University battled Vermont into double overtime in the semifinals of the 2008 America East tournament and claimed a 76-74 victory to advance to its fifth title game in six years. Cheri Raffo led on the offensive front with 22 points and Amarachi Umez-Eronini and Jesyka Burks-Wiley added 18 and 17, respectively, as BU picked up its first 20-win season in 20 years. Raffo was 8-for-17 for 22 points and scored seven in the overtime period, while Burks-Wiley earned a game-high four steals. BU held the slight 34-32 edge in the paint, while UVM converted on 24 points off turnovers to BU's 15. Vermont owned the advantage in rebounding, 42-37.
After the Catamounts closed a nine-point first-half gap, BU and UVM went toe-to-toe over the final 50 minutes of the contest, never allowing either squad to go up by more than six points.
In overtime, BU was clutch at the line, hitting four straight with under three minutes to go, however one made free throw from Vermont tied the score up at 65 and a missed jumper on BU's end sent the game into double overtime.
Raffo nailed a three and Kasey Devine made it a five-point lead with a jumper in the paint to move the score to 71-66 in the second overtime; however, UVM's Amy Rosenkrantz nailed back-to-back treys to make it a one-point game with under a minute.
With one second left, the Terriers drew a charge in the paint, regaining the possession and then drew an additional foul to put Christine Kinneary on the line. Kinneary hit one and left no time for Vermont to get a shot off, taking the game 76-64.
UP NEXT: BU will make its first of two appearances this season at Agganis Arena on Wednesday (Jan. 14) as a part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team. The Terriers will tip-off with Binghamton at 4:30, followed by the men at 7:30.
TO THE HEAD OF THE CLASS: The Terriers' senior class of Jesyka Burks-Wiley, Kristi Dini, Christine Kinneary and Amarachi Umez-Eronini need 12 more wins this season to become the all-time winningest class in program history. They currently own a .571 winning percentage over four seasons with a 60-45 record.
The class of '90 was 71-42 (.628), recording the most wins over a four-year period at BU. Lynn Bay, Renee Doctor, Marjorie Haney, Lynne Ranando, Tia Theriault were members of the class.
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000: Senior Jesyka Burks-Wiley is next in line to reach the 1,000-point plateau, as the Kansas City, Mo., native is just 63 points away from the milestone. If Burks-Wiley maintains her 16.4 ppg she could surpass 1,000 in four games. She would become the 17th player to join the prestigious club in the program's 34 years.
KINNEARY HANDOUTS: Senior Christine Kinneary is 33 handouts away from breaking a 28-year-old record for career assists. The record is currently held by Debbie Miller (`81), who had dished out 477 over her four years as a Terrier.
If Kinneary maintains her 5.1 assists per game, she could surpass Miller's record halfway through the conference season. She currently ranks third all-time and needs just 21 more to break into the top five in America East history.
DINI FOR THREE!: Senior sharp-shooter Kristi Dini continues to knock down threes this season, as the Putnam Valley, N.Y., native has already nailed 40 3-pointers, already surpassing her total from the 2007-08 campaign. In 2006-07 her 53 3-pointers was the fifth-best single-season performance in school history.
In four seasons she has hit 139 treys, which ranks sixth all-time.
She currently leads the conference and is ranked fourth in the nation in 3-pointers per game (3.2). At UMass (Jan. 2), Dini matched a career-best with six treys and was just one shy of tying a school record. She has hit six in a game on two separate occasions.
