BU Travels To URI For Midweek Matchup
December 8, 2014 | Women's Basketball
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TONIGHT'S GAME
The Terriers (3-5) head to Kingston, R.I. to take on the Rhode Island on Tuesday night and look to bounce back from a two-game losing skid. The Rams are 6-3 on the season and enter the game on a five-game win streak.
GAME COVERAGE
Wednesday's game will be streamed live on Atlantic10.com or fans can listen to the game on GoTerriers.com/TSRN with John-Michael Sedor and Alex Smith on the call. Live updates will also be provided on Twitter.com/BUGameDay and live stats are available on goRhody.com.
THE TERRIERS
BU is 3-5 on the year and is led by forwards Meghan Green (14.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and Mollie McKendrick (11.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg). Both are shooting exceptionally well with field goal percentages of 51.1and 46.3, respectively. McKendrick has been especially good from the floor as of late, shooting 62.9 percent over the last three games and averaging 16.3 points in those contests.
The Terriers are still looking for their first win on an opponent's home court, having won only one game on the road against Stephen F. Austin in New Mexico's gym.
With Saturday's loss at Yale, BU has suffered its first consecutive loss of the season. Previously, the Terriers were 3-0 in games following losses.
THE RAMS
Rhode Island enters Tuesday's contest on a five-game win streak, most recently defeating Providence on Sunday. The Rams have not won this many games since they opened the 2002-03 season with a six-game streak.
URI is led by Tayra Melendez, who averages 16.7 points per game, the squad's only double-digit scorer, and a team-high 3.0 assists per game. She is also a threat from long range, sinking the second-most three's on the team with 11 so far this year and is the team's second-best rebounds, pulling down 5.2 boards per game.
Meghan Straumann and Tayra Melendez are also key contributors, averaging 7.7 and 7.4 ppg, respectively. Straumann is the team's best shooter from beyond the arc, going 16-of-43 (37.2%) while Melendez averages the second-most assists per contest (1.9).
THE SERIES
In their 20th all-time meeting, the Terriers look to continue their three-game win streak over the Rams. BU has bested URI in each of the last three years including one game on the road. In fact, the Terriers are 9-1 in the last ten meetings with Rhode Island.
A TERRIER WIN WOULD...
...Be the 13th all-time win over URI and extend its series win streak to four games.
...Snap its longest losing streak of the season (two games).
...Be BU's first win on an opponent's home court this year.
LAST TIME OUT
The Terriers suffered their first consecutive loss on Saturday afternoon at Yale, dropping a 66-59 decision to the Bulldogs. BU made a late comeback, making up for as much as a 12-point deficit and taking a three-point lead with under three minutes to play but couldn't hold on and Yale came away with the victory. Clodagh Scannell bounced back from her recent scoring drought and tallied a team-leading 16 points against the Bulldogs. Meghan Green also contributed 16 points and Mollie McKendrick had her third-straight double-figure game with 11 points.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After a long trip to New Mexico last week, the Terriers are back on the road for a three-game trip, starting with Yale on Saturday. BU has a mid-week matchup with the Rams on Tuesday and then heads to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to take on Marist on Saturday before going on a holiday hiatus until January 28.
McKENDRICK ON A HOT STREAK
The team's lone senior has drastically improved her game over the last three contests, earning back her starting job along the way. After opening the season with a 19-point performance against Northeastern, the captain's output was less-than adequate and she was transitioned to a bench player. McKendrick had a break-out performance against Stephen F. Austin, however, tallying her first double-double of the year which earned her a place on the starting lineup. The Australia native did not disappoint and followed up with her second-consecutive double-double in her first start since Nov. 20 against New Hampshire.
Over the last three games, McKendrick has averaged a team-leading 16.3 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game. She is shooting an incredible 62.9 percent from the floor in those contests as well.
BY THE NUMBERS
BU has found the most success this season when it scores over 60 points in a game, losing just one of four contests when it achieves that benchmark. The only loss it has suffered was to Northeastern, a game it lost by one point. The Terriers also bounce back well, going 3-1 when coming off of a loss, and are great in sticky situations, accumulating a 3-1 record when a game is decided by five points or less.
SOPHOMORE STANDOUTS
This year's sophomore class has taken the reigns of a young Terrier team as Meghan Green and Sarah Hope lead the squad in scoring. Green is BU's top scorer, averaging 14.9 points per contest while Hope is close behind with 10.1 ppg.
Hope, BU's starting shooting guard, leads the team with 3.5 assists per game. Classmate Courtney Latham, BU's starting point guard, is also a great helper, averaging 3.4 assists per game.
Green, a starting forward, is also the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.9 boards per game.
THANKSGIVING IN THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT
BU spent Thanksgiving in Albuquerque, N.M. for the New Mexico Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 28-29. The Terriers came away 1-1 in the tournament, coming up short against New Mexico before beating Stephen F. Austin. It was BU's first time playing in the state of New Mexico.
PATRIOT LEAGUE NETWORK
The Patriot League, in collaboration with Campus Insiders, enters its second season this year. The PL will live-stream hundreds of its men and women's sporting events, add studio programming and grow distribution on multiple platforms and devices. All BU women's basketball home games, and road conference games that are not part of a television package, will be available to watch for free on the PLN.
KEEPING IT LOCAL
Boston University made its rounds with the Boston-area teams, playing all three to start the season. The Terriers began the year at Northeastern, losing a 75-74 heartbreaker before opening their home schedule with a thrilling 63-62 victory against Harvard. BU wasn't able to keep the momentum going, however, and lost at BC, 73-56 on Thursday night.
THE STEDING ERA
In its second season in a new conference, the Terriers have started yet another new era with the hiring of head coach Katy Steding. Steding comes to Boston University after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at California. Although this is her first year as a head coach in Division I, Steding spent seven years at the helm of the Warner Pacific College (NAIA) program following an impressive playing career.
Steding was part of the 1996 "Women's Dream Team" alongside Teresa Edwards, Rebecca Lobo and Sheryl Swoopes, which went 60-0 en route to an Olympic gold medal in the Atlanta Summer Olympics. Prior to her professional career, where she played in both the ABL and WNBA, Steding helped Stanford win its first National Championship and was named the CBS/Chevrolet Player of the Game.
THE STARS AMONG US
Assistant coaches Cindy Blodgett and Taj McWilliams-Franklin have both had impressive playing careers in the WNBA. McWilliams-Franklin was a 13-year WNBA veteran and six-time WNBA All-Star after being selected in the third round of the 1999 WNBA Draft by the Orlando Miracle. She won two WNBA titles, first with the Detroit Shock in 2008 and then with the Minnesota Lynx in 2011. McWilliams-Franklin is touted as one of the best post players in league history and still holds the record for career offensive rebounds with 1,062 and is second all-time in total rebounds. She is also one of just 12 players to score 5,000 career points.
Blodgett, a four-time All-American at Maine, had a four-year tour in the WNBA where she spent the 2000 season as a teammate of head coach Katy Steding. Blodgett opted to pursue coaching rather than continue her professional career, and began as an assistant coach at none other than Boston University in 1999. After spending some time at Brown, Blodgett was hired as the head coach of her alma mater, Maine, where she spent four years at the helm of the Black Bears. Most recently she served as an assistant coach at Rhode Island before returning to BU.
