Emzie ZalaznickJunior forward Kendall Bennett registered game-highs with 16 points and seven rebounds in BU’s 86-35 victory over SUNY Geneseo on Monday evening.
Six Bearcats reach double-digits in season-opening blowout.
Binghamton women’s basketball opened its season on Monday against SUNY Geneseo, cruising to a dominant 86-35 victory and opening the season with a tally in the win column. The Bearcats dominated the turnover battle 38-8 as six Bearcats reached double-digit point figures.
“I’m really pleased, I thought we did a really good job with our scrimmages that we’ve had and carrying over that pace of play,” said Binghamton head coach Mary Grimes. “I think we executed really, really well today against a tough Division III opponent. They’re in the finals every year for their conference and we didn’t take them lightly, so I’m proud of our team for that.”
The Bearcats (1-0) opened up scoring in the match, with junior guard Leah Middleton hitting a three-pointer to give Binghamton the early lead. The Bearcats continued to stack up points on the Knights, hitting two more threes and a layup to shoot out to a quick 11-0 lead and forcing Geneseo to use an early timeout.
Shortly thereafter, Geneseo scored its first points of the game thanks to a three-pointer, but Binghamton maintained a comfortable lead. As the clock wound down on the first period, Binghamton held a 19-10 lead over their opponents, with Binghamton controlling both sides of the court.
“I would say I definitely felt great, I definitely love the pace that we’re playing at,” junior forward Kendall Bennett said. “We attacked really early, so the pace of the play was really fun to play.”
Binghamton once again opened scoring in the second quarter, thanks to a layup from freshman forward Daysha Salgado. Although their scoring slowed slightly to start the second quarter, the Bearcats’ defense held strong, allowing zero points through the first five and a half minutes and forcing another Geneseo timeout after BU climbed to a 29-10 lead.
The Bearcats hit the Knights with a flurry of points as their offense opened up, hitting multiple threes. Their defense continued to shut out their opponents all the way through the second quarter, outscoring them 27-0 and leaving Binghamton with a 46-10 lead.
“We were just rotating really, really well, we understood where our rotations were in the press,” Grimes said. “In the second half, they made some adjustments and then we had to readjust, but I think we kind of settled in with our press and we were able to get steals and convert it for easy baskets.”
Bennett opened up the scoring in the third quarter as the Bearcats kept pressure on the Knights. Geneseo finally found the net two minutes into the quarter, ending Binghamton’s 31-point scoring run and making the score 50-12. A slew of scoring for the Bearcats, including senior guard Meghan Casey’s third three-pointer of the night, had Binghamton up 57-16 halfway through the opening half of the third quarter. While Geneseo improved its scoring, putting up 15 points in the third quarter, the Bearcats held their dominant lead, entering the fourth quarter up 71-25.
“It was just really fun, great to be back after a long summer of working out,” Casey said. “You could see the team, we have chemistry and we’ve been playing together and having fun.”
Boyd opened scoring for the Bearcats in the fourth, thanks to a layup after an assist from teammate freshman guard Klarissa Goode. The Bearcats hit two more layups off a pair of steals from senior guard Kaia Goode and junior guard Bella Pucci as the game headed into a commercial timeout.
As the fourth quarter crossed the halfway point, the Bearcats held a 79-31 lead, shooting up to a 50-point lead not long after, thanks to a layup from Boyd. The Bearcats continued to apply pressure, maintaining possession for most of the quarter and concluding the game with an 86-35 lead and a dominant performance to start the season.
“We’ve got to focus on us and what we’ve got to get better at,” Grimes said. “There were some details that we’ve got to clean up both offensively and defensively, and so we’re just focusing on Geneseo today. We’re gonna have 24 hours to enjoy this, and then we focus on Bloomsburg on Thursday.”
The Bearcats will continue their opening home stretch to start the season when they take on Bloomsburg University on Thursday, Nov. 6. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court in Vestal, New York.
