After its Wednesday night matchup at Canisius was postponed due to inclement weather, the Binghamton women’s basketball team had to alter its preparation schedule. BU (1-1) is now set to host Xavier in its home opener on Saturday night, a week removed from competing under the lights.
“We were ready for Canisius,” Binghamton head coach Linda Cimino said. “We really thought that we could go there and get another win and be 2-1 when we walked in to [play] Xavier.”
In addition to losing that midweek game to prepare for Big East rival Xavier (2-0), the Bearcats had to change their game plans abruptly.
“You do your scout practice, your scouting plan and you’re ready to go and then the game gets changed,” Cimino said. “You kind of lose a bit of momentum. We immediately have to shift gears and [prepare for] Xavier.”
Though the schedule change is certainly inconvenient, BU will still enter the weekend coming off a win. The Bearcats took their second game at the Akron Tournament last weekend, prevailing, 90-84, over Delaware State. That win was not only BU’s first of the season, but Cimino’s first at the Division I level.
“It was an amazing feeling and is something I’ll always remember,” Cimino said.
The Bearcats have demonstrated impressive team cohesion so far in the young season, which has not been lost on Cimino.
“I think that the one thing that we’ve said all year is that we have to play as a unit,” Cimino said. “‘Play together, stay together.’ That has been our slogan. When things get tough, we need to stay together. I think for us, years and age don’t matter right now. I think that it’s everybody’s just trying to put their best foot forward.”
Freshman guard Imani Watkins made headlines this week when she was named the America East’s Rookie of the Week on Monday. She averaged 20 points per contest through two games last weekend and added nine rebounds in the team’s win over Delaware St. (1-1) on Saturday.
“It’s a blessing,” Watkins said. “To come in and be able to produce and be able to have a big impact on the two games that we’ve had, it’s a great feeling.”
Watkins hopes she and the team can channel their most recent strides for a positive output against the Musketeers. Xavier has appeared in the NCAA Tournament five times in the last eight years, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2010. At that level of competition, Cimino anticipates the game to be a tough matchup as well as an opportunity to test her squad against a major program.
“You learn a lot about yourself when you play a tough opponent,” Cimino said.
“Against Xavier, we’re going to do what we need to do,” Cimino continued. “We’re going to worry about Binghamton. We’re not going to worry about Xavier. We’re going to work on our zone defense, our rebounding and our sets. If at the end of the day we have more points than them, great. If not, then at least we’ll know that we did what we wanted to do. “
After an off-season riddled with change, to finally settle in and take their home court is an exciting prospect for the Bearcats, according to Cimino. And specifically for the first-season head coach and her four new recruits, Saturday night’s game will be their first regular-season home contest in Binghamton.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at the Events Center.