The Binghamton women’s basketball team looks to expand upon its performance last season. After finishing 15-15 overall on the season with a 7-9 record in America East play and a postseason appearance as the No. 6 seed, the Bearcats were eliminated by No. 3 Bryant in the AE Quarterfinals, falling 66-63. Leading the team once again is Binghamton head coach Mary Grimes, who is entering her second season with the program.

“Excited about where the team is right now,” Grimes said. “We had a really good summer player-development-wise, getting in the gym. As far as preseason, things are going pretty well. We’re fast, which I like, so we’re going to be able to play a little bit faster than we did last year.”

Although there has been some change in the roster for the Bearcats, with seven new faces joining the team, five of the squad’s six top scorers are returning this season, meaning a much smoother transition than in seasons past. The lone leading scorer lost during the offseason was redshirt senior guard Jadyn Weltz, who averaged 9.7 points per game for the Bearcats before transferring to AE rival Vermont. Outside of the loss of one of its top performers, the team’s starters have stayed relatively the same, providing significant experience and leadership to the team.

“It’s really exciting having a lot of returners come back, especially starting five,” Grimes said. “They know what’s to be expected as far as drills, team culture and things like that, and I think our newcomers have taken to that very well, and they’re just following the lead.”

Headed into the 2025-26 season, the updated Bearcat roster looks to have a new and improved defensive identity, especially with the addition of freshman guard Ashley Redd, who is expected to contribute to the defense as a starter this year. Grimes has emphasized the team’s focus on creating turnovers and scoring opportunities off of them. With the Bearcats averaging 15.5 forced turnovers per game last season, ranking third in the AE, their defense is expected to take another leap forward headed into this year.

“That’s going to be our identity,” Grimes said. “We’re going to try to press a lot more, we’re going to try to get up and play a lot more man and create those turnovers so we can score easy buckets in transition and off those turnovers.”

Despite the addition of seven new members, including six freshmen and transfer portal addition junior guard Kameryn Dorsey, who transferred from St. Francis, the team chemistry has come together very well. With a mix of veteran experience and new faces, the team projects a strong balance of old and new headed into the season.

“It just seemed to gel right away,” Grimes said, referring to the team chemistry going into the year. “I think we do a really good job recruiting. Our staff did a really good job recruiting, first and foremost, good people, and I think everybody’s got a personality, but just figuring out how those personalities gel, we did a really good job.”

As they head into the season, the Bearcats look to be part of a very competitive conference. Last season, Binghamton lost multiple close games to conference opponents in a year in which the No. 3 seed and the first team out, UMBC, were separated by just two wins. The Bearcats are looking once again to be a playoff contender and hope to improve upon some of last season’s woes against their rivals. To do so, they must rely on key returning guards like senior Kaia Goode and juniors Bella Pucci and Yanniah Boyd, who combined for an average of 26.1 points per game last year.

“It’s a tough, competitive conference,” Grimes said. “You had NJIT, who was averaging the most points, and then you had Vermont, who was defending really, really well, but then you had Albany, who had the largest margin of victory. Day in and day out, it’s competitive and so we got to come ready to play, and we got to come ready to play for 40 minutes. We had close games at the end, we got to figure out how to finish those games so we can get the win.”

The Bearcats’ season is set to begin on Monday, Nov. 3 against SUNY Geneseo at home. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Dr. Bai Lee Court in Vestal, New York.