As the men’s team began to celebrate their first America East title on Saturday, the Binghamton University women’s basketball team was on the hardwood in Hartford, looking to keep their dance dreams alive in the America East Conference semifinals against Boston University.

Despite putting forth one of their most resilient efforts of the season, the Bearcats’ dream will have to wait another season as the Boston University Terriers nipped the Bearcats, 57-53.

Boston came into the semifinal matchup with a perfect 17-0 AE conference record, but suffered a near-defeat to the University at Albany, pulling out a 77-75 overtime victory in the No. 1 vs. No. 9 quarterfinal game on Friday. Binghamton cruised to an early lead in their quarterfinal game against UMBC and never looked back as junior Erica Carter paced the Bearcats with 17 points in a 66-54 victory.

With dominating play throughout the first 15 minutes of the game, Boston looked poised to go 18-0 without much resistance from the Bearcats. But that all changed with one shot. With Binghamton down 21-7 with 4:33 left in the first half, Carter connected on a 3-pointer which sparked a scoring flurry for the Bearcats. Binghamton went on a 16-1 run to end the half led by freshman Viive Rebane, who had seven points and two steals during the stretch. A layup from sophomore Jackie Ward with 19 seconds left gave the Bearcats a 23-22 lead going into the half.

“I give our players credit, they started rebounding the ball … Great team effort,” said Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl.

The one-point lead was significant because to that point, the Bearcats stood at 12-0 in games where they led at the half.

In the second half, Boston showed why they were undefeated.

America East Player of the Year Jesyka Burks-Wiley and Defensive Player of the Year Amarachi Umez-Eronini, both seniors, took over for the Terriers, scoring 16 of the Terriers’ first 19 points of the half to give the Terriers a 41-31 lead with 10:40 remaining.

The Bearcats were not finished, though. Using a true team effort, Binghamton clawed back to grab a 47-46 advantage with 3:15 left, even as freshman Andrea Holmes, the America East Rookie of the Year, sat on the bench after fouling out with 4:45 remaining

“I have to commend Jackie Ward for filling in at the point for us … She was focused on her role,” Scholl said.

Ultimately, Binghamton’s 29 fouls allowed Boston to connect on nine free throws in the last three minutes and sent the Bearcats packing for the offseason.

Despite the loss, Carter and Rebane had excellent games for the Bearcats. Carter and Rebane each scored 11 points and Rebane recorded the double-double with 11 rebounds.

“[Rebane] was steady both games, she played 40 minutes both games, rebounded the ball well and hit tough shots,” Scholl said.

Carter also grabbed eight rebounds.

“Erica was very steady for us, rebounding the ball both games, they were chasing her around everywhere. I again have to give credit to our players for getting her the ball,” Scholl said.

This was the last game for senior Laura Franceski in a Bearcats uniform. The third team All-America East Player contributed with eight points and five rebounds, and one last signature block. Franceski finished with 78 blocks for the season, a Division I Bearcats record.

This marks the end of the 2009 season for the Bearcats (14-17).

The University of Vermont was victorious in the America East championship, and received a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament. They will play the University of Connecticut in the first round on Sunday at noon.