Nov. 23, 2007

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Junior Jesyka Burks-Wiley led all scorers with a season-high 19 points, as the Boston University women's basketball team cruised to a commanding 69-42 victory over UNC Greensboro Friday afternoon on the first day of the UNCG tournament at Fleming Gym. The Terriers improve to 4-1 on the season, while the Spartans fall to 0-4 overall. BU will face North Carolina A&T in the championship game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

Burks-Wiley nailed 15 of her 19 points in the second half, and sophomore Aly Hinton was 4-for-8 with two free throws for 10 points. Seniors Kasey Devine and Corinne Jean recorded game highs for steals with three apiece, while Devine also swatted two shots. Sophomore Kristen Folk put up eight points in nine minutes of action.

Both the Terriers and the Spartans recorded 40 rebounds, however, BU brought down 31 defensive boards and held UNCG to 11 second-chance points. The Terriers scored 24 points off turnovers and 30 in the paint.

The Terriers opened the game on a 23-4 run, spanning 12 minutes of the first half. After UNCG scored its first basket at 18:31, BU held the Spartans scoreless for the next eight minutes until Monique Floyd ended the drought at 10:46. During those eight minutes, BU recorded seven defensive rebounds and two steals.

BU took a commanding 33-17 lead into the locker room at halftime, and held the Spartans to 22.7 percent from the field, while shooting 50.0 percent (15-for-30).

In the second half, Burks-Wiley scored eight of the Terriers' first 12 points. After the Spartans came as close as 15 points two and a half minutes into the second stanza, BU pulled away as Burks-Wiley posted six points in two minutes to up the advantage to 20 points.

BU took its largest lead of the game - 30 points - when sophomore Kristen Folk moved the score to 57-27 on a layup with 7:53 remaining. The rest of the way, the Spartans could not manage to cut the deficit to less than 22 points, and the BU defense remained stingy as it caused three turnovers and held the Spartans to 1-for-6 shooting from the field in the final five minutes. UNCG was 15-for-25 from the free-throw line for the game.

BU will face North Carolina A&T in the championship game tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.