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Every play was like the last play of the super bowl. BU women’s basketball coach Kelly Greenberg
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Tuesday’s Take
Sports
Going National
The Daily Free Press
[ www.dailyfreepress.com ]
Junior Rich Peters became the first Boston University cross country runner to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 2003 on Friday. P. 7.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Women’s basketball nearly upsets West Virginia
Who cares about Terriers lose to No. the Heisman? 17 WVU 60–57
Mike Neff Who’s going to win the Heisman trophy? That seems like all anybody is talking about after this weekend of college football. A couple of big games, an Alabama loss and all of a sudden, we’re talking about who will win college football’s most coveted prize. There are some interesting candidates out there, so I’ll go through the motions and entertain those of you who care. Let me tell you, it’s a little bit soon to be calling Johnny Manziel anything other than Johnny Manziel. Not Johnny Football, and certainly not Johnny Heisman. First, and foremost, he’s a freshman. No freshman has ever won it. And he won’t. Period. But there’s no question his play this weekend was superb as he led Texas A&M to victory over ‘Bama on Saturday. But to say that qualifies him as a Heisman winner outright is flat-out ridiculous. A guy named Adrian Peterson was a freshman back in 2004 and broke almost every first-year rushing record there is. He still finished second behind quarterback Matt Leinart. Johnny won’t win it this year. Does Alabama’s loss this past weekend eliminate A.J. McCarron from the discussion? I think so. Two interceptions basically cost his team an undefeated season. I think his numbers aren’t the flashiest either. He’s had five games where he hasn’t thrown for more than 200 yards. To win the Heisman, you have to be consistently throwing for at least 200 yards. Quarterback Collin Klein creates all of the offense for Kansas State. He’s racked up 31 total touchdowns this season, but has only thrown 12 of them. The senior quarterback hasn’t proven his arm is the real deal and that could affect his chances. If he increases his passing yards, it could give him a leg up. Linebacker Manti Te’o is the force behind the Irish defense this season. He has 92 tackles, six interceptions, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery thus far. But is a defensive player likely to win it? I’m about to graduate college and the last time it happened, I was graduating kindergarten. Charles Woodson won it in 1997. Defen-
Neff see page 7
By Conor Ryan Daily Free Press Staff
By Matthew Fils-Aime Daily Free Press Staff
Despite a career-high 30 points from senior guard Chantell Alford, the Boston University women’s basketball team was defeated by West Virginia University 60–57 in a nail-biter Monday night at Case Gymnasium. With the loss, the Terriers fall to 1–1 on the year while the Mountaineers, who were BU’s highest ranked opponent since 2007, improve to 2–0 on the year. The first half was a back-andforth affair between the Terriers and the Mountaineers. There were three lead changes, and both teams had their own five-point lead in the first half. After a brief 5–0 run by the Terriers, led by the great interior scoring of junior forward Rashidat Agboola and a clutch 3-pointer from senior guard Mo Moran, BU took a 33–28 lead over the heavily favored Mountaineers into halftime. The Terriers boasted an impressive 55.6 field goal percentage in the first half, while the Mountaineers only managed a paltry 27.8 field goal percentage. “We talked a lot about [WVU’s] size and their quickness, and our goal was to really keep them in front,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg. “’Let’s not let them get layups,’ and I thought that we did a great, great job of that in the first half … We played, man, I was expecting to play a lot of zone tonight, but we came out so strong on our man that I was like ‘the heck with our zone, we’re staying with it and we’re going to keep being aggressive with this team.’” The Terriers continued their
In its first game against a ranked opponent, the Boston University women’s basketball team (1–1) lost to the No. 14 West Virginia University (2–0) at home. During the 60–57 loss, senior guard Chantell Alford rose to the occasion in one of the best games of her collegiate career. Alford contributed 30 points, two assists and nine rebounds in 39 minutes of playing time, besting her former career-high of 29 points. During 2011–12 season, the Terriers took on the Mountaineers in Morgantown, W.V., where Alford played a critical role in the BU offense. She finished the game with 17 points and four rebounds in 27 minutes of play. Alford began the game with a hot hand, dribbling past an opponent on the left side and pulling up for a jump shot along the baseline. She then netted two free throws, scoring the Terriers’ first four points in a physical battle that was extremely tiring for each team. Alford was harassed all game, with a host of defenders attempting to cool off her sharp shooting. She finished the game tying her career high in 3-pointers with six. “It was a tough one, we know that West Virginia is a really good team but we wanted to go out there and play our basketball,” Alford said. “And we were able to do that, we just fell a little bit short at the end, but it was a great game overall.” The Mountaineers’ large, physical defense continued to wear down Alford, along with the rest of the Terrier team. They forced 23 turnovers in the game, four of which came from Alford. The stifling defense, combined
No Games Scheduled LA Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni over Phil Jackson to replace head coach Mike Brown...
MICHELLE JAY/DAILY FREE PRESS FILE PHOTO
Junior guard Chantell Alford scored a team-high 30 points in the Terriers’ 60–57 loss to No. 17 West Virginia. great play in the second, at one point leading by eight points with 12:32 remaining in the game. But an 8–0 run by the Mountaineers tied the game up at 45 apiece with 10:33 remaining. With less than three minutes to go, the Mountaineers had a 57–50 lead. But a 7–0 run by the Terriers was capped by two clutch Alford free throws that tied the game at 57 apiece with only 29 seconds
remaining. “You’re just there on the line by yourself, and you know you have to make it, and it’s just about taking your time and doing what you know how to do,” Alford said about her free throws. “I was just thankful that they went in.” With the final possession of the game, WVU senior center Ayanna
Women’s basketball see page 7
Alford see page 7
Terriers fall to Canisius, BU extends losing streak to lose second straight game 3 in loss to New Hampshire By Michael Bagarella Daily Free Press Staff
In its second game of the 2012–13 season, the Boston University men’s basketball team had a difficult first half against Canisius College and never found rhythm as the Terriers lost to the Golden Griffins, 75–83. “There were a lot of little things in this game that we just didn’t do,” said BU coach Joe Jones. “We have to make the plays late and we have to get bigger contributions from guys that we are dependent on. That’s the bottom line.” Despite the lackluster 5–25 record put up by Canisius during the 2011– 12 season, Jones said he and his team knew better than to expect an easy victory from Monday’s matchup. “They are a much different team than they were last year,” Jones said. “They got three transfers that are all starters, and they got a kid on the bench who was a starter last year and
The Bottom Line
Tuesday, Nov. 13
Alford almost leads BU to upset
Wednesday, Nov. 14
No Games Scheduled ...The Lakers thought hiring D’Antoni in Movember would be a good move because of his impeccable ‘stache...
their second leading scorer. They are a much different team, a very talented team and a better offensive team than Northeastern. They are not what people are going to think. They are a very good offensive team.” Canisius (1–0) started strong, opening the game on an 11–2 run in which it outplayed the Terriers both offensively and defensively. The Terriers (0–2) cut the deficit to four midway through the first half thanks to six points down low from junior forward Dom Morris. The Golden Griffins then went on another run after making BU pay for turning the ball over. They scored 11 points off of Terrier turnovers. Freshman guard Maurice Watson Jr. and junior guard D.J. Irving both had two first half turnovers. Since they were unable score for three minutes and were outrebounded on both ends of the court, the Ter-
Men’s basketball see page 7
Thursday, Nov. 15
No Games Scheduled ...The Lakers will be sure to hire Phil Jackson during all months that are not dedicated to facial hair appreciation.
By Gregory Davis Daily Free Press Staff
The No. 5 Boston University women’s hockey team lost to the University of New Hampshire Friday night in Durham, N.H., and extended its winless streak to three games. BU (7–3–1, 3–2–1 Hockey East) came into the game after a wild matchup against Boston College that ended in a 5–5 tie. It was the second consecutive game the Terriers were unable to come out with a victory over BC. UNH (4–7, 2–2 Hockey East) was having struggles of its own coming into the game, having suffered losses in its last six contests. BU coach Brian Durocher said those losses do not reflect UNH’s skill. “[UNH had] losses to … all teams that have been or were previously or still are in the top 10 or 12 in the country,” Durocher said. “Those are some quality teams they played
Friday, Nov. 16 W. Hockey vs. Providence, 5 p.m. M. Hockey @ Vermont, 7 p.m. W. Basketball vs. Richmond, 7 p.m.
against and they made a good number of them close games.” The Wildcats kept the game close right from puck drop. The game remained scoreless until freshman defenseman Alexis Crossley put the puck past senior goaltender Alissa Fromkin 13:07 into the opening period to get UNH on the board first. The goal was Crossley’s fifth of the season, which ties her for ninth in Hockey East in goals and first on the Wildcats. The score remained 1–0 until early in the second period when junior forward Arielle O’Neill scored a power-play goal to extend UNH’s lead to two. Forward Kristina Lavoie earned her seventh assist of the season on the play, which leads UNH and ranks her seventh in Hockey East, tied with several others. It was also her 10th point of the season, which makes her
Women’s hockey see page 7
Saturday, Nov. 17
M. Basketball vs. George Washington, 1 p.m. Cross Country @ NCAA Championships, All Day