Thankfully for Binghamton University women’s basketball, conference championships aren’t won in November.
The Bearcats began their season on a rough note, losing their opening game at home against St. Bonaventure University 63-42 on Friday night. The Bonnies were in control of the game from the start, and finished with the same fervor.
Binghamton came into this season worrying that it would miss the inside presence that center Laura Franceski gave them as a senior last year, and the team saw that worry come to life on Friday. Binghamton fell 40-27 on the glass and gave up 14 offensive rebounds in the game. The Bearcats were led on the boards by sophomore forward Viive Rebane, who had five.
“I knew we’d miss Franceski, but I didn’t know how much until tonight,” head coach Nicole Scholl said about her team’s struggles on the boards. “We need to work on some rebounding drills, some boxing out.”
Rebounding was not the only place where the Bearcats struggled. Binghamton shot just over 30 percent from the field, compared to 44.4 percent on 24-54 shooting for St. Bonaventure. From the start of the game, the Bearcats had trouble with the Bonnies’ defense on the pick-and-roll. St. Bonaventure pressured point guard Andrea Holmes whenever she had the ball and successfully blocked penetration to the basket.
“I thought our defense really established what we wanted to do,” St. Bonaventure head coach Jim Crowley said. “We defended for 40 minutes and that was the difference. That was the best we’ve defended the pick-and-roll in years.”
While Holmes, the reigning America East Rookie of the Year, struggled with attacking the pick-and-roll and shot just 3-11 overall for the game, Scholl believes she is one of the keys to igniting the Bearcats’ offense this season.
“I think Andrea’s trying to find that balance of getting her teammates involved and taking over a game,” Scholl said. “She didn’t look comfortable and relaxed like the Andrea Holmes of last season.”
Holmes agreed with her coach’s assessment.
“I need to pay more attention to what coach Scholl wants from me,” she said.
Defensively, the Bearcats held the Bonnies to 35.7 percent shooting from the field in the second half, but St. Bonaventure shot 53.8 percent in the first half behind forward Dana Mitchell, who shot 5-5 in the first half. The Bearcats’ strong point in 2008-09 was defense, and they are looking to improve on their performance against St. Bonaventure.
“Defensive principles, things we work on every day, we let them slip today,” senior Darryll Peterson said, who had a block and three steals on the night.
It seemed like Binghamton could not catch a break during the game. With 14:15 remaining and the score 40-24, Rebane blocked a shot, and chased after a loose ball with three seconds remaining on the shot clock. But St. Bonaventure recovered the ball, and Andrea Doneth converted on a running 3-point bank shot from near the half-court line at the shot clock buzzer.
“It’s just how things went tonight,” Peterson remarked about the play.
Despite the rough opening game, Binghamton takes solace in one thing as it moves on with its season: It is still early. The Bearcats have 28 more games to work out the kinks, and do not play a conference game until they welcome Boston University to the Events Center on Jan. 7.
“It’s early,” Scholl said. “We have a lot of work to do, but a lot of time to do it.”
The Bearcats have this week off, before they travel to Syracuse University next Sunday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.