Terriers Clash With Colgate
January 13, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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TONIGHT'S GAME
The Boston University women's basketball team is still in search of its first Patriot League win as the Terriers stay home for a contest with Colgate on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Case Gym.
THE TERRIERS
BU enters the game on a nine-game skid, a streak that the Terriers have nearly snapped in the last two contests, but late rallies by Navy and Lafayette negated their efforts.
Meghan Green leads the team in points (12.6 ppg) and rebounds (7.3 rpg), bolstered by her second double-double of the year last Wednesday against Navy. Green led the game with 19 points and 13 rebounds, her first double-double since Nov. 20 against Boston College where she put up 22 points and 15 boards.
Mollie McKendrick and Sarah Hope each average over nine points per contest and their performances have been picking up over the last three games, in which they each averaged 10.3 points per game.
THE RAIDERS
Colgate has won just two games this season but its one victory in conference play puts the Raiders ahead of the Terriers in the Patriot League standings. Colgate has a 2-13 overall record including 1-3 in PL contests.
The Raiders are out-scored by their opponents by 10 points per game and average just over 59 points per contest. They average nearly 18 turnovers per contest, half of which is accounted for by opponent steals.
Josie Stockhill leads the team with 12.5 points per game while Carole Harris also averages double figures (10.8 ppg) and leads the team in rebounds (7.1/game).
THE SERIES
The Terriers are ahead in the series with Colgate, 6-2. BU has never lost a home contest to the Raiders, going 3-0 in Case Gym. The two squads split last year in their first season as Patriot League foes, with BU taking the win in their second meeting of 2013-14.
GAME COVERAGE
Wednesday's game will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network and is free for all to view. Fans can also listen live on Terrier Sports Radio Network with Joe Weil and John-Michael Sedor on the call or follow along on twitter with live updates on @BUGameDay.
A TERRIER WIN WOULD...
...Snap their nine-game losing skid, the program's longest since the 2000-01 season when BU lost 10 straight.
...Maintain their perfect home record against Colgate (3-0).
...Be the first Patriot League win of the year.
SCANNELL STEPS UP
Clodagh Scannell has stepped her game up since the start of conference play, improving her numbers in nearly every category. The junior is averaging 8.5 points per game in Patriot League contests compared to 5.1 in non-conference affairs. She is also averaging 0.5 more rebounds per game, 0.6 more assists per game, and 0.5 more steals per game.
LATHAM AS OF LATE
Courtney Latham has stepped her game up in conference play, averaging 6.8 points per game, 6.0 rebounds per game and 3.8 assists per game. The sophomore guard also recorded her first career double-double on the road at Lehigh, notching 10 points and rebounds.
STARTING LOOKS GOOD ON SHEFTIC
Good things happen when freshman Kara Sheftic gets the starting nod, as she averages 5.9 points per game compared to 4.1 points per game coming off the bench. She also has double the blocks in games started and averages fewer turnovers than when she comes off the bench.
Most importantly, she has had three standout games, two of which were when she was on the court first. After scoring a career-high 12 points against URI, Sheftic got the starting nod for the next game, where she matched her output at Marist. The freshman then went on to out-do herself and score 17 points against Holy Cross to go with an impressive four blocks and matched her personal best in rebounds with six.
LAST TIME OUT
BU had another close game that featured seven ties and 11 lead changes against Lafayette, but the Leopards took control down the stretch and came away with the victory. The Terriers had the lead at halftime but couldn't hold on in the final six minutes.
Mollie McKendrick and Sarah Hope were largely responsible for BU's early advantage, with McKendrick going 7-of-8 from the field and Hope going 5-of-6 including 4-of-5 from long range to each score 14 points by halftime.
SOPHOMORE STANDOUTS
This year's sophomore class has taken the reigns of a young Terrier team as Meghan Green and Sarah Hope are among the squad's leading scorers. Green is BU's top scorer, averaging 12.6 points per contest while Hope is close behind with 9.5 ppg.
Hope, BU's starting shooting guard, is second on the team in assists (3.1/game) while classmate Courtney Latham, BU's starting point guard, leads the team with 3.4 per contest.
Green is also the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.3 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.
