It is never an easy game with a star player down, especially when facing a high-caliber team. Now take away the first player coming off the bench and see how it goes.
The Binghamton University women’s basketball team suffered a 74-54 loss this Wednesday to the defending champions from Hartford.
The Bearcats (10-13, 5-5 AE) got bad news going into the game, finding out that their versatile junior guard Muffy Sadler would be sidelined due to a sprained ankle suffered during practice. Sadler, who leads the America East in 3-point field goal percentage at 46 percent, joined senior teammate Laura Franceski, who had missed the two previous games as well due to a minor concussion.
“Any time two stars are down, it will hurt,” said BU head coach Nicole Scholl. “I thought our replacements played well tonight.”
Hartford (14-8, 9-1 AE) started the game going down low to post-presence forward Diana Delva. Delva scored 10 of her team’s first 18 points, giving the Hawks a quick 18-12 lead just six minutes into the game.
“I felt like we attacked the interior,” said Hartford head coach Jen Rizzotti. “We went in to Delva a lot to start the game.”
Despite the injuries, BU kept up the pressure and continued to hang around using a 5-1 run to close out the first half and cut the deficit to 35-28.
“BU came out aggressive and put us on our heels,” Rizzotti said. “Give them credit, but my team responded.”
Hartford started the second half on a 10-6 run to go up 45-32. But Binghamton freshman point guard Andrea Holmes responded with a 3-pointer to prevent Hartford from running away. The half continued to go back and forth between the two teams.
The Hawks got up 57-47 with 7:31 remaining in regulation before the Bearcats made six turnovers in the 17-7 run that Hartford used to close out the game. BU finished with 20 turnovers on the game.
“Turnovers ended up being the factor tonight,” Scholl said. “Hartford’s a great team with balanced scoring and you can’t make that many mistakes.”
Binghamton out-rebounded Hartford by 10 in the first half. Nine Binghamton offensive rebounds gave the Bearcats extra opportunities against a usually stringent Hawks defense.
“We made some mistakes in that first half,” Rizzotti said. “We have set high standards on defense, it’s what’s been our trademark.”
Hartford’s trademark has also been to win championships. Hartford has won three of the last four America East championships. The Hawks also claimed an NCAA tournament win when they upset Temple in the first round three years ago to put the America East on the map.
The Hawks have had the Bearcats’ number the last few years as Hartford has won the last nine meetings against BU. Binghamton’s last win against the Hawks was a 51-37 victory on Feb. 23, 2005.
Junior Erica Carter led the Bearcats with 13 points and freshman Viive Rebane added 10 points and five rebounds in a game where she was plagued by foul trouble from the start.
“We did a good job of attacking with Rebane in the first half,” Scholl said. “We played hard and rebounded well.”
Hartford never relinquished the lead after a bucket by Lisa Etienne gave them an 8-6 advantage over Binghamton. Etienne was one of five Hawks players in double figures in scoring.
The Bearcats travel to Stony Brook tomorrow for a 2 p.m. conference matchup.