Freshman Alex Young

Terriers Tip-off with Binghamton on Wednesday

February 17, 2009

Feb. 17, 2009

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BOSTON - The Boston University women's basketball team will travel to Binghamton on Wednesday (Feb. 18) in the second game of its three-game road stretch as it aims for its 13th consecutive victory. BU, which is one of just 11 teams in the nation that remains unbeaten in its respective conference, enters with a 17-6 overall record and 11-0 America East mark, while the Bearcats are 10-14 overall and 5-6 in the league.

THE TERRIERS: The Terriers, who own a commanding 16.8 scoring margin over AE foes and have won 10-of-11 league games by at least 11 points, are in the midst of one of their greatest seasons in school history as they are just three wins away from earning their second straight 20-win season for the first time in program history.

Seniors Jesyka Burks-Wiley, Kristi Dini, Christine Kinneary and Amarachi Umez-Eronini lead the team in scoring and are the only squad in the conference with four players in the top 20. Burks-Wiley leads the quartet with 18.5 points per game and 7.6 rpg and needs 13 points to break into the top 10 for single-season point totals. Dini is next with 12.3 ppg, followed by Kinneary (11.2) and Umez-Eronini (10.9).

Following her impressive 6-for-10 3-point shooting performance on Sunday at New Hampshire, Dini is now just five 3-pointers away from becoming the Terriers' all-time leader and four away from breaking the single-season mark.

The Terriers have been consistent from the floor and currently lead the conference in scoring (72.1 ppg), field goal percentage (.432), free throw percentage (.733) and turnover margin (+3.09). BU's defense has also been stellar this season as it is third with 9.3 steals per game. Umez-Eronini, the team's defensive specialist, leads the league and is ranked 32nd nationally in steals with 2.7 spg.

THE BEARCATS: Binghamton is looking to bounce back from consecutive losses to Hartford, 74-54, and Stony Brook, 62-51. The Bearcats' wins have come over Albany, 66-63, Maine, 62-49, New Hampshire, 76-59, and Stony Brook, 91-86.

Offensively, Binghamton is led by Andrea Holmes and Erica Carter with 10.4 and 10.2 points per game, respectively, while Laura Franceski is the team's leader in rebounding (5.5 rpg). The Bearcats are shooting .390 from the field, .350 from behind the arc - tops in the league - and .671 from the charity stripe. In addition, they are second in the conference in blocked shots with 4.2 per game.

BU VS. BINGHAMTON: The series with Binghamton is relatively young compared with other opponents in the America East and the Terriers own a 9-7 advantage in the seven-year-old series. The Bearcats joined the conference in 2001-02, but the rivalry has heated up in recent years and culminated with a match-up in the AE quarterfinals in 2006-07, which Binghamton took by a 63-58 margin. Last season, the squads each claimed a victory on their respective courts, while this year the Terriers opened the season series with an 83-61 victory at Agganis. At the Events Center, the Terriers are 2-6 all-time. There has been one overtime game in the series - a 67-62 Boston University win on Jan. 8, 2005.

WINNING RESOLUTIONS: The start of the New Year has been good to the Terriers as they went unbeaten in the month of January and have continued that success into February. Following its Dec. 30 loss to St. John's, 74-66, Boston University turned it on in the new year, embarking on a program record 12-game winning streak - six on the road and six at home.

BU is off to its best start in conference play in program history. The Terriers' next best league start was in the 1987-88 when they went 9-0.

TERRIERS REMAIN UNBEATEN IN AE CONFERENCE: The Terriers are now just one of 11 teams in the country that are unbeaten in their respective conference.

School, Conference, Conf. W-L Record (as of Feb. 17)
Sacred Heart, Northeast, 15-0
Middle Tennessee, Sun Belt, 14-0
Wisconsin-Green Bay, Horizon League, 13-0
Boston University, America East, 11-0
Bowling Green, Mid-American, 11-0
California, Pac 10, 11-0
Connecticut, Big East, 11-0
UC Santa Barbara, Big West, 11-0
Liberty, Big South, 10-0
Oklahoma, Big 12, 10-0
Xavier, Atlantic 10, 10-0
Dartmouth, Ivy League, 7-0

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 69 3-pointers, surpassing her total from the 2007-08 campaign, and is on pace to break the single-season mark, which is currently held by Becky Bonner (72). From Dec. 3 to Jan. 28, spanning 12 consecutive game, Dini hit at least one three. During this stretch, she reached as high as second in the country in 3-pointers per game.

In four seasons she has hit 168 treys, which is second all-time. She is currently second in the conference and is ranked third in the nation in 3-pointers per game (2.9). 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 occasions.

CLASS ACTS: The Terriers' senior class of Jesyka Burks-Wiley, Kristi Dini, Christine Kinneary and Amarachi Umez-Eronini need two more wins to become the all-time winningest class in program history. They currently own a .609 winning percentage over four seasons - the best in 19 years - with a 70-45 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 and Tia Theriault were members of that class.

UP NEXT: BU will conclude its three-game road stretch, with Hartford (Feb. 24), which will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet at 7 p.m.

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