Terriers Travel to Yale for Mid-Week Matchup
December 8, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2009
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BOSTON - The Boston University women’s basketball team (3-4) will look to add one to the win column on Wednesday evening as it closes out its tour of the Ivy League when it heads to Yale (3-3) for a 5:30 p.m. match-up with the Bulldogs.
THE TERRIERS: BU closes out its three-game stretch against Ivy League opponents on Wednesday night after splitting with Brown (W, 87-58) and Harvard (L, 85-68) last week. A handful of strong performances highlighted the week as two underclassmen turned in career performances. Sophomore Alex Young poured in a career-best 33 points at Brown last week and she shot an impressive 10-for-15 from the field and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. A few days later, freshman Chantell Alford recorded a career-high 19 points at Harvard and went on to earn America East Rookie of the Week after averaging 14.5 points per game in two contests.
Young now leads the team and is ranked sixth in the AE with 14.7 ppg, while three other underclassmen are averaging in double figures. Caitlynn Moran has posted 13.1 ppg, followed by Chantell Alford (11.0 ppg) and Kristen Sims (10.5 ppg). Sophomore Caroline Stewart is also having a breakout season as she has posted 8.9 ppg and a team-high 5.9 rpg.
THE BULLDOGS: For Yale, Melissa Colborne leads the way on the offensive front with 11.2 ppg, and ranks eighth all-time in Yale history for points in a career (1,238). She has led the Bulldogs in scoring in four games and recorded a team-best 17 points vs. NC State on Nov. 28. Colborne is followed by Megan Vasquez with 9.0 ppg and Michelle Cashen with 8.7 ppg. Cashen is also the team’s leading rebounder with 7.0 rpg.
LAST TIME OUT (Harvard: Dec 6, 2009): Freshman Chantell Alford recorded a career-best 19 points on Sunday afternoon, however, BU fell to Harvard, 85-68, at Lavietes Pavilion. Sophomores Alex Young and Caroline Stewart also recorded double figures with 17 and 11 points, respectively. The first half was a tightly contested stanza, however, a game-changing 18-5 run in the second half broke open the score for Harvard, which went on to claim the 17-point victory.
BU shot .443 for the game and .333 from behind the arc, while the Crimson shot .508 from the field and .478 from 3-point range. In the first half, Harvard shot 34.5 percent, but upped it to 66.7 percent in the second half to double its offensive production.
Alford was 8-for-17 from the field with three steals, while Young hit 6-for-14 attempts with three helpers. Freshman Caitlynn Moran scored eight points and added a career-best eight assists to go along with five boards.
LAST TIME OUT VS. YALE (Dec. 29, 2005): Behind a strong defensive effort and a game-best 17 points from Katie Meinhardt, BU closed out the 2005 portion of its schedule with a 53-41 victory over Yale in the consolation game of the Marriott Cavalier Classic. BU led wire-to-wire and held Yale without a field goal for a stretch of over 17 minutes spanning the halves. The Terriers allowed the Bulldogs to shoot just 27.3 percent from the floor, including a miniscule 9.1 percent in the first half. Meinhardt, who was named to the all-tournament team, scored 14 of her 17 points in the first half, while Rachael Vanderwal turned in a solid all-around effort with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Kasey Devine added seven points, six rebounds and three blocks while Shannon Petranoff recorded a career-best six points in addition to five rebounds.
BU VS. YALE: In a series that dates back to 1981, the Terriers have won 90.0 percent of their games against Ivy League foe Yale. To open the rivalry, the Terriers won eight straight throughout the 1980s, before taking a 12-year break from the series. In 2000, BU renewed the rivalry, but fell to the Bulldogs, 81-60, on Nov. 18, 2000. One year later, the Terriers jumpstarted a new winning streak against Yale with a 76-67 victory in Yale. After another four-year break, BU took a 53-41 win.
BU VS. THE IVY LEAGUE: The Terriers own a 46-25 (.648) advantage over Ivy League opponents all-time with its two closest rivals with Brown (10-6) and Harvard (13-12).
RECORDS VS. THE IVY LEAGUE:
Brown (10-6)
Columbia (1-0)
Cornell (0-0)
Dartmouth (13-6)
Harvard (13-12)
Penn (0-0)
Princeton (0-0)
Yale (9-1)
GREENBERG VS. THE IVY LEAGUE: Head coach Kelly Greenberg is quite familiar with the Ivy League after coaching at the University of Pennsylvania for five seasons (1999-04). During that time, she amassed a 51-19 (.729) record in conference action and since taking over the helm at BU she is 9-1 (.900).
Since coming to Boston University in the 2004-05 season, Greenberg has coached the Terriers to a 9-2 record against the Ivy’s, with the only losses coming to Harvard.
Overall Greenberg is 60-21 (.740) against the league.
ALFORD, MORAN EARN BACK-TO-BACK AE ROOKIES OF THE WEEK: Freshman Caitlynn ‘Mo’ Moran earned the Boston University women’s basketball team’s first America East weekly honor, as she was named the league’s Rookie of the Week after posting a career-high 24 points in the Terriers’ 83-78 win over Northeastern last week. The conference made the announcement on Monday, Nov. 30. Classmate Chantell Alford received the honor a week later, after pouring in 14.5 points per game in two contests last week. At Harvard on Sunday, the West Haven, Conn., native netted a career-best 19 points to go along with three steals.
AMERICA EAST VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPPONENTS: In the non-conference portion of the America East Conference’s 2009-10 schedule, AE schools have gone 31-31 (.500). Some impressive conference wins include Hartford’s victory over then-No. 19/23 Louisville, a team that played in the NCAA national championship game last year, and Vermont’s back-to-back wins NC State and Boston College.
CAREER GAMES VS. THE IVY LEAGUE: Last week, two underclassmen turned in career performances against the Ivy League as sophomore Alex Young poured in 33 points on 10-for-15 shooting and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Her point production was the second-best single-game effort in the America East Conference this season.
One game later, freshman Chantell Alford scored 19 points at Harvard on 8-for-17 shooting. Alford now ranks third on the team with 11.0 ppg, and is the second-highest scoring rookie in the America East - only behind teammate Caitlynn Moran.
YOUNG PUPS: The top five of the Terriers’ top six scorers are underclassman this year and the top three of four scorers are rookies. Sophomore Alex Young leads a trio of underclassmen in double figures as she has averaged 14.7 ppg through five contests. Freshman Caitlynn Moran is close behind with 13.7 ppg and freshman Chantell Alford averages 11.0 ppg. An underclassman has the led the team in scoring in each of the Terriers’ first seven games and they have led on the boards in 5-of-7 contests.
HINTON LIGHTS OUT FROM CHARITY STRIPE: Senior Aly Hinton has been the model of consistency from the free-throw line throughout her career as she currently ranks fifth all-time with a .791 percentage.
In 2009-10, Hinton has been a sterling 15-for-16, which ranks at the top in the conference.
TERRIERS IN THE AMERICA EAST: The Terriers’ 3-point defense currently ranks at the second in the AE statistics as it has held opponents to just .265 from behind the arc, and the squad is second in scoring offense (68.4) and third in free throw percentage (.695). In addition, BU is second in blocked shots (3.9), third in 3-pointers (6.3) and third in assists (13.1).
Individually, senior Aly Hinton has been impressive from the charity stripe as she has gone 15-of-16 to rank first in the America East, while freshman Chantell Alford is third (.875). In scoring, sophomore Alex Young’s offensive surge has moved her into sixth in the league with 14.7 ppg, while Caitlynn Moran is tied for 10th with 13.1 ppg. Alford and junior Kerry Cashman rank third and fourth in blocks (1.3 bpg).
Additionally, Moran ranks first in 3-point percentage (.417), second in assist/turnover ratio (1.4), and fourth in assists (4.0 apg) and steals (2.3 pg). Sophomore Caroline Stewart is third in field goal percentage (.531) and seventh in defensive boards (4.1 pg).
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000: Senior Aly Hinton is the next Terrier in line to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The Richboro, Pa., native is just a mere 139 points away.
GREENBERG NEAR TWO MILESTONES: Greenberg needs just four wins to reach 100 victories in her time at BU and she is 20 away from the 200-win career milestone as a head coach. She is second all-time in program history for victories with 96 and her .589 winning percentage is the program’s best in the last 30 years.
