At tipoff on Saturday afternoon, it was a perfect 72 degrees in Coral Gables, Fla. But the Binghamton University women’s basketball team still seemed to be affected by the snowy, sub-freezing conditions in Vestal as they continued their cold shooting from the field against the University of Miami.
Unfortunately for the Bearcats, the Hurricanes were not as nice to them as the Miami weather was. While Binghamton continued their shooting and turnover woes, Miami, led by a strong 3-point shooting effort, opened up a large first half lead en route to a 72-37 victory.
In their first game ever against an Atlantic Coast Conference foe, the Bearcats got out of the gate quickly, using a 7-0 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer from junior Erica Carter to take a 7-5 lead over Miami with 14:30 remaining in the first half.
After taking their first lead of the game though, the Bearcats’ shooting woes set in again as they did against Villanova on Wednesday. Binghamton only made one more field goal the rest of the half and it came off a layup from junior Theodora Panteli with 11:21 remaining.
The Bearcats managed to keep it close with strong defense and after two free throws from Carter, Miami held just a 14-11 lead with 10:33 left in the first half. From that point on though, the Hurricanes played lockdown defense, forcing 13 first-half turnovers.
“Miami is a very good team, and very athletic … but we are making mistakes we shouldn’t be making at this time, 10 games into the season,” said BU head coach Nicole Scholl.
Miami went on a 20-6 run the last 10:12, highlighted by four 3-pointers from four different Hurricanes to open up a 34-17 halftime lead.
The Bearcats’ shooting picked up in the second half, but Miami maintained their momentum from beyond the arc, as they connected on 53 percent of their attempts in the second half. Binghamton was plagued by turnovers again in the second half, as Miami forced 13 more to bring the total to 26 for the game. Both teams cleared their benches in the final minutes as Miami cruised to the 35-point victory.
It has been a tough week for Bearcats women’s basketball. The 37 points scored against Miami on Saturday matches a Division I low-point total, which was set against UMBC in 2007. This total was also matched against Villanova on Wednesday.
“We played two very good teams, but we haven’t handled the pressure for the full 40 minutes,” Scholl said.
But it was not all bad for the Bearcats. Panteli’s improved play this season continued with a career-high nine rebounds in just 12 minutes. Freshmen Viive Rebane and Orla O’Reilly led Binghamton scorers with nine and eight points, respectively. O’Reilly’s eight points were a career-high.
Still the frustration of another poor shooting performance was evident for Binghamton.
“It was frustrating for the players … to have another shooting effort like this [Miami game],” Scholl said.
The Bearcats are off for finals week, but will look for redemption on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 2 p.m. against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem, Pa.