After climbing back into contention with a pair of wins at home, the Binghamton University women’s basketball team suffered a setback on the road to Boston University, losing 79-56.
The Bearcats (8-14) are now 4-5 in America East play, good for fourth in the conference. The team had won its previous two games, both at home, though those matches were against two of the bottom three teams in the America East.
Boston (12-10, 8-2 AE), which is currently tied for second in conference, jumped out to a quick lead, going up 16-3 just seven minutes into the game, and leading 24-11 with seven minutes to go in the half. Binghamton missed nine of its first 11 shots to open the game.
“I think they were just more aggressive and they came out ready to play, and hit some shots in transition,” said Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl. “I don’t think we matched their intensity right away from the start. They came out in man-to-man defense and really pushed us out and I don’t think we did a very good job in the beginning of attacking the basket.”
One of the biggest blows to the Bearcats came when sophomore Viive Rebane committed her second foul 10 minutes into the game. After sitting for two minutes, she came back in and promptly committed her third foul. As a result, the Bearcats’ leader in blocks, steals and rebounds played just 19 minutes, scoring two points while missing all three of her shots from the field before fouling out. Rebane had averaged 19.5 points in her previous two games, and Scholl emphasized the severity of the loss.
“That really hurt us, with [Rebane] getting in foul trouble,” she said. “It was a tough night for her in that respect. We missed her offensive presence and her rebounding.”
The Bearcats trailed 36-25 at the half, though by hitting their first shot of the second half they came within nine points. The Boston lead stayed in the low teens for most of the half before the Terriers surged ahead in the final minutes, ending the night with a game-high 23-point lead.
Andrea Holmes — the sophomore point guard coming off of a 1-for-8, 6-point performance in her last game — had a game-high 22 points on 50 percent shooting. Scholl credited Holmes’ improved performance to being more aggressive on the court. Orla O’Reilly, a sophomore guard, was the only other player to put up double figures, scoring 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting.
Boston’s Caitlynn Moran led the way with 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Teammate and last week’s America East Rookie of the Week Chantell Alford put up 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, adding five assists and five rebounds. As a team, the Terriers shot 47.4 percent from the field, including 40 percent from 3-point range.
Despite the big loss, the Bearcats will need to bounce back quickly, as they play fifth-place Stony Brook University on Saturday. Scholl knows that her team is capable of a better performance the next time out.
“The score didn’t show what we’re capable of,” she said. “We have a very good team and when we’re more focused and we’re doing the things that we need to be [doing] on the floor, we can compete with anybody. But we have to bring that effort and that confidence every night on the floor.”