Coming into Wednesday’s game against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (10-14, 4-7 America East), Binghamton University women’s basketball (9-15, 5-6 AE) was looking to avoid a third consecutive loss in conference. The Bearcats avoided that fate resoundingly, and in doing so moved into fourth place in the America East standings.
Never trailing, Binghamton defeated UMBC 70-36 on Wednesday night at the Events Center. The victory marked the Bearcats’ widest margin of victory this season and its largest victory since a 74-42 win over Cornell on Jan. 4. Binghamton controlled the game with a balanced attack that saw four players — Erica Carter, Jackie Ward, Orla O’Reilly and Darryll Peterson — all score between 12 and 15 points. Eight players played at least 10 minutes for the Bearcats, and they all hit at least one field goal. Binghamton had 13 assists on 26 shots, compared to just four assists on 11 field goals for UMBC. The Bearcats outrebounded the Retrievers 47-32 and hit nine 3-pointers, compared to just two for the Retrievers.
While Binghamton managed to score 70 points for the ninth time this season on 46 percent shooting, its effort on defense was the main key to winning the game. UMBC shot 21.2 percent in the game, well below its average of 38.5 percent. The Retrievers’ 36 points was substantially lower than the 60.4 it has averaged on the season. Binghamton held Carlee Cassidy and Michelle Kurowski of UMBC, the team’s two leading scorers, to just five points each. The two guards average 25.3 points per game combined. From the 11:00 mark of the first half, the Bearcats held the Retrievers without a field goal for 6:26, as their lead swelled to 33-8 with 4:34 remaining in the half.
“I thought defensively we came out and put pressure on them,” Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl said. “Our main focus was to limit Cassidy’s shot opportunities and also I think we rebounded extremely well, limiting them to only one shot on many possessions.”
Peterson’s play on both ends of the floor was a large factor in Binghamton’s success Wednesday against UMBC. The senior forward had 12 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes of action. While she did not have any blocks or steals, she still posted a strong game on the defensive end.
“Peterson started for us and Cassidy was her assignment,” Scholl said. “[Peterson] did an outstanding job of not allowing Cassidy to have many good looks at the basket.”
Orla O’Reilly put together a solid performance for the Bearcats as well. The sophomore from Ireland contributed 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting, to go along with a career-high nine rebounds and a blocked shot. O’Reilly’s role with the Bearcats has increased significantly from a year ago. While she played 9.7 minutes per game and averaged 2.8 points nightly a season ago, she now averages 19.1 minutes and six points per game. Scholl was pleased with her play in her team’s victory over the Retrievers.
“Orla definitely had another solid performance coming off the bench for us,” Scholl said. “She came in and had a solid defensive performance and gave us a spark on offense.”
After the game, Scholl was confident that her team could use the victory as a stepping stone to build on as they move toward the America East tournament.
“I think this game will definitely give us a lot of confidence, especially with Vermont coming in Saturday at No. 2 in the conference,” she said.
Binghamton’s next game is against the second-place Catamounts tomorrow at the Events Center. With a win, the Bearcats can level their conference record at 6-6. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.