This weekend, these Binghamton Bearcats are going after the big dance. But they’ll have to avoid the whammy as they play the most exciting game, hopefully games, of their lives.

From the Events Center in Vestal, it’s time to play a better game than Press Your Luck; America East tournament basketball comes to the BU campus, women’s style.

‘I think we’re at an OK spot entering the tournament,’ said head coach Rich Conover.

Early season trials and tribulations

It required a drastic turnaround in Binghamton’s fortunes, one that even Rod Roddy and Peter Tomarken would envy, to win the same fourth seed they earned a season ago. Entering the 2006-07 campaign, the Bearcats needed to replace Rachel Laws, Jen Blues and Jen Haubrich, the trio who literally built the program on the Division I level.

‘Any time you lose three seniors like we had, it’s tough,’ Conover said. ‘It was just a rocky start due to the variety of lineups we had to put out there.’

The Bearcats (11-18, 7-9 AE) were also hampered in the first two months by injuries to senior captain Shea Kenny (foot), senior guard Rebecka Lindgren (thumb) and junior small forward Laura Sario (knee). All three missed games before the conference opener against Albany. Sario’s injury required arthroscopic surgery, forcing her to sit out the month of December. Kenny attempted to play through her foot ailment, but did not permanently return to the starting lineup until Jan. 20.

‘I don’t think our leaders really got a chance to show what they could do early in the regular season,’ Conover said. ‘I just don’t think everyone got comfortable with their role because of people being out of the lineup on different occasions.’

BU’s first whammy extended from the start of the season, a home loss to Sacred Heart, to the Bucknell loss in overtime, one of three they suffered this year in the extra session. After a tough 68-65 home loss to Syracuse, the Bearcats entered conference play at 4-9 overall, playing like one of the worst teams in Division I. Their offense looked uglier than Phyllis Diller, and the defense, although solid, could not compensate.

Embarrassment against Albany, UMBC and New Hampshire

The second and perhaps most painful whammy took place at the start of conference play. Binghamton played its worst game of the season in the conference opener, losing a 63-59 overtime decision to Albany, which finished dead last a year ago.

‘Take nothing away from Albany, they’re a very solid team,’ Conover said. ‘But we had hoped to win that one on our home court.’

The Bearcats slogged their way to a 54-49 win against Maine, but dropped winnable games at UMBC and New Hampshire. Against the Retrievers, BU led by 10 before losing by the same margin. In the Granite State, Binghamton allowed Wildcat senior guard Whitney Edwards to dominate and dropped a 58-55 overtime decision.

Turning it around against Vermont

With a 1-3 conference record, things looked bleak for the Bearcats. They were awaiting a visit from high-flying Vermont, which was to be followed by road games at Hartford and Stony Brook that sandwiched a home date with Boston University. They appeared to be a shoo-in for the play-in game. There was even the chance BU might not make it to the tournament they were designated to host.

But the Bearcats played the role of heroic nurse and stopped the bleeding.

‘I think pride kicks in,’ Conover said. ‘You’re not accomplishing what you thought you could. You’re not reaching some of your goals.’

Conover finally discovered how the pieces of his difficult jigsaw fit against Vermont. He placed Kenny back into the starting lineup, which was no surprise. However, he relegated junior center Laine Kurpniece, Binghamton’s preseason all-conference selection, to the sixth-man role, and started sophomore forward Laura Franceski at the pivot. Franceski dominated the defensive paint, Kenny deciphered the Catamount press and the Bearcats wore Vermont down, winning 64-55. Franceski would go on to catch and surpass Albany’s Gia Sanders for the blocked shots title.

‘I think that day we played very well and they showed themselves with that type of effort, they could play with and possibly beat anybody in the conference,’ Conover said.

Conover kept the same starting lineup intact for nine consecutive games. The Bearcats finally hit their stride, playing some of the best basketball in the league. They gave Hartford all they could handle at Chase Arena before falling to the defending champs. BU rallied to knock off Boston in the most chippy game of the season behind Kurpniece’s second of 11 consecutive double-figure scoring efforts. At Stony Brook, the Bearcats led by four with under eight minutes to go before the great Mykeema Ford worked her magic to lead the Seawolves to victory. Despite several losses, Binghamton was playing at a level it had not reached in some time.

BU proceeded to win three of its next four, with the only hiccup a 59-56 loss to Maine at Alfond Arena. The Bearcats avenged the home loss to Albany at the Big Purple Growl, dominating the Danes in the second half. They discovered the secret to UMBC’s Princeton offense and zone defense in the Valentine’s Day blizzard. And they played so well at Vermont to reach 6-6 in the America East that Catamount head coach Sharon Dawley even called BU ‘the best team in the league’.

Taking a step back

But that’s when the third whammy hit.

Binghamton stood in third place with the conference’s brass, Stony Brook and Hartford, coming into the Events Center. And with a chance to establish themselves as championship contenders, the Bearcats skidded and lost two close games, dropping back into the middle of the conference table.

Binghamton then proceeded to surrender a 10-point lead at Boston. They rallied to tie the game at 70, but the Terriers finished off the improbable comeback to send the Bearcats to a third straight defeat at the wrong time of the season.

‘You always want to dwell on those that got away, but there’s a few we’ve probably stolen, so it evens out,’ Conover said.

Shea Kenny and the resurgent Erica Carter salvaged the last regular season game against New Hampshire, but there were plenty of chances to improve a 7-9 conference record.

‘It’s tempting to think about, ‘What if we were 11-5?’ ‘ those types of things,’ Conover said. ‘But the record is what it is.’

Conover feels that the team can still improve in the conference tournament, where they face the Terriers in the first round.

‘I think our intensity kind of wavers up and down,’ said Conover. ‘We need to fix that up.’

Tournament basketball requires a lot of skill and, yes, even a little bit of luck. The Bearcats will need to avoid that fourth whammy, which would mean the end of the 2006-07 season.

‘It’s going to be the team that plays the best for three days,’ Conover said.