After one of the most successful starts in the program’s Division I history, the Binghamton University women’s basketball team hit a roadblock last week when it dropped back-to-back games at home and fell into a third-place tie in the America East Conference standings. On Sunday, the Bearcats traveled to the University at Albany, desperate to regain their stride and return to their winning ways. With BU down by one with just under a minute left to play, freshman guard Jasbriell Swain hit a game-winning layup to knock off the Great Danes 41-40 and put an end to BU’s two-game losing streak.
“I thought [the win] was extremely important for our team in just getting their confidence back, especially in a game like that, on the road, playing a tough Albany team,” said Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl.
Riding a three-game winning streak that began with an unlikely victory over then-first-place Boston University, Albany surged onto the court Sunday afternoon, opening the game with an 8-2 run that put the Great Danes up by six with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Back-to-back jumpers from Swain and sophomore forward Kara Elofson put the Bearcats within two, before a 3-pointer from junior guard Andrea Holmes evened the score for the first time in the contest with under eight minutes left on the clock. In the half’s remaining minutes, Albany would again regain the lead, but the Bearcats remained close behind. With her team trailing by three with 1:02 on the clock, Holmes drilled her second 3-pointer of the game to tie it at 20. She would end the afternoon with a game-high 13 points. With just two seconds remaining in the half, however, Holmes picked up her third personal foul, and as senior guard Melia Basavand nailed both of her free throws, the Bearcats found themselves again trailing the Great Danes by two going into halftime.
To open the second half, the Bearcats scored consecutive baskets, tying the game on an Elofson layup and taking their first lead of the afternoon when junior forward Viive Rebane, who would finish the night with 13 rebounds, put up a second shot minutes later. The score remained tight until a five-point run by the Bearcats gave Binghamton its biggest lead of the game, 37-31, with under seven minutes remaining. Undaunted by the Bearcats’ late momentum, the Great Danes gained a second life of their own as they embarked on a 9-2 run for the next four minutes. Albany was able to pull within two of the Bearcats’ lead when Holmes acquired a dangerous fourth personal foul that resulted in a made free-throw for the Great Danes, who trailed 39-37 with just under four minutes left in regulation. Then, with 2:32 left on the clock, Albany junior guard Cassandra Callaway nailed a shot from behind the arc to put the Great Danes ahead by one.
The subsequent 80 seconds of play did not bode well for the Bearcats and the threat of a third-straight loss breathed heavily down their necks. In desperate need of a basket, the Bearcats turned the ball over twice and were made to suffer the loss of their star player when Holmes committed her fifth foul with over two minutes left on the clock. The Bearcats were left to finish out the game’s remaining minutes down a point and lacking their leading scorer, and Scholl was forced to call a timeout with barely over a minute left to play.
“It was just to keep calm,” Scholl said of the timeout. “Obviously, at that point Andrea had fouled out and [junior] Orla O’Reilly, I thought, did a great job coming in and taking over the point at that point in time, got us set into what we needed to get set into.”
Coming out of the timeout, Swain took a shot that did not fall for the Bearcats. Then, displaying the hustle and aggressiveness that has garnered her five Rookie of the Week awards and conference-wide attention, Swain crashed the boards and pulled down her own rebound. The freshman went up again with a second try and this time connected, putting the Bearcats up by a point with 59 seconds remaining. Binghamton was able to hold Albany scoreless in the game’s remaining seconds, as the Bearcats brought their two-game losing streak to a close and notched their second win over the Great Danes this season, 41-40.
“She just played fantastic,” Scholl said of Swain. “I thought she really came out as strong and confident … and really understood what we’ve been asking of her, especially on the rebounding side of things.”
Swain ended the afternoon with seven points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Her performance earned her Rookie of the Week honors for the fifth time this season, which is the most times a BU women’s basketball player has garnered a weekly award in a single season.
The victory was BU’s 10th of the year in conference play, marking just the third time the Bearcats have reached double-digit conference wins in the 10 years they have been in Division I.
Binghamton is set to take on first-place Boston University at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Events Center.