In sports they always say: “Defense wins championships.”
After forcing 27 turnovers and holding the University of Maine to 26.5 percent shooting, “they” would have been happy to see the Binghamton University women’s basketball team defeat Maine, 66-46, at the Events Center on Saturday afternoon.
After a heartbreaking 76-75 overtime defeat at the hands of Boston University last Wednesday, there seemed to be a possibility of a letdown game for the Bearcats. But this was not the case.
Junior Darryll Peterson set the pace early for Binghamton (11-15, 6-7 America East) with four first half steals and 10 first half points.
“[Peterson] played good on both ends … a lot of times her defense creates offense,” said head coach Nicole Scholl.
Despite Peterson’s gargantuan effort, Maine (4-22, 2-11 AE) kept it close throughout the first half, frustrating the Bearcats with a strong zone defense that forced 13 Binghamton first-half turnovers. And after a steal and breakaway layup from Black Bears freshman Brittany Williams, the Bearcats led only 19-17 with 3:43 remaining.
The Bearcats stepped up their own defensive effort in the waning minutes of the first half, though. Led by two steals from freshman Andrea Holmes and two blocks from senior Laura Franceski in the last three minutes, Binghamton went into the locker room with a comfortable 26-19 halftime lead.
“The defense has played very well as a team … they know how to use their quickness and cause turnovers,” Scholl said.
Like in the first meeting on Jan. 31 in Orono, which Binghamton won 62-49, the Bearcats used a strong defensive effort in the second half to put the game out of reach for the Black Bears.
The Bearcats opened the second half with authority by going inside to their forwards early and often. Binghamton extended their lead to 36-19 with a 10-0 run led by three field goals from Peterson and two from Franceski. All the points scored on the Bearcats opening 10-0 run were scored in the paint as well.
But the second half was defined by the Bearcats’ stingy defense. Maine had trouble finding open looks from the field all day, and it really showed in the second half, when the Bearcats limited the Black Bears to a 22.2 percent field goal percentage in the second half on 6-27 shooting.
Binghamton combined stingy defense with offensive control in the second half. After 13 first-half turnovers, the Bearcats committed only three in the second half. Binghamton also shot the ball well in the second half, shooting 45.5 percent from the field to secure the 20-point victory.
The Bearcats established a season-high 16 steals on Saturday, led by freshmen Andrea Holmes and Viive Rebane who had six and five steals respectively. Peterson led the way for the Bearcats with a career high 17 points, she also had a game high eight rebounds.
Franceski had another block party in against the Black Bears. In the first meeting against Maine on Jan. 31, Franceski tied a school record with eight blocks. On Saturday, she added five more to bring her season total to 72, which is tops in the America East.
Saturday was also the return of junior Muffy Sadler, who missed three games with a sprained ankle. Sadler’s ankle looked fine on Saturday as she came off the bench to add seven points on 3-7 shooting in 22 minutes.
The win puts Binghamton at 6-7 in the America East, tied for fourth place with UMBC, who is scheduled to come to the Events Center this Saturday, Feb. 28.
Game time is set for 2 p.m.