Though a fairy tale ending was in store for the BU men on Wednesday, the women’s basketball team was not as lucky. The Bearcats were defeated at Stony Brook 64-57, despite what seemed to be a promising second half.
‘We played really well the majority of the second half,’ head coach Rich Conover said. ‘There were a few turnovers, though, and Stony Brook is a tough team. On their home court we have to play better for a longer period of time.’
The Bearcats were able to hold off the SBU attack for just under five minutes in the second half, before suffering an unrecoverable 17-8 Stony Brook run. The Seawolves converted all of their shots in the last six attempts from the free throw line, eliminating the Bearcats’ chance at a comeback.
The game was an exciting one, boasting seven lead changes and mostly even statistics between the two teams. The Bearcats were more accurate in the second half than the Seawolves, shooting an impressive 57.1 percent. However, the Seawolves were given more opportunities from the free throw line, and they were able to cash in, missing only two of their 16 shots.
Stony Brook senior guard Mykeema Ford racked up a game-high 27 points, helping to secure her third America East Player of the Week award. She scored the last four points of the game against Binghamton.
Many of the Bearcats contributed to keep the game close. Junior forward Laine Kurpniece kept her hot streak going with a team-high 16 points. Junior guard Laura Sario also pitched in, sinking 13 points along with five rebounds. Junior forward Brianna Thompson added 15 points, hitting seven of her 10 attempts from the field.
‘It’s a tough league, but we have momentum,’ Conover said. ‘We’ll have to use a more consistent effort to move ahead into the second half of the season.’
With the win against Binghamton (7-14, 3-5 AE) on Wednesday, Stony Brook (11-9, 7-1 AE) brought itself back into a fierce first-place tie with Hartford.
The Bearcats finished off a mediocre month of January with their fifth loss in nine games, including two overtime heartbreakers earlier in the month. The Bearcats are currently in seventh place in the America East, with one month to get back into the race.
‘The overtime losses are behind us,’ Conover said. ‘We take it as knowledge that we were just a few possessions away from being 5-3 this season [instead of 3-5].’
Binghamton will have to go on a serious win streak to be contenders for postseason play, but with difficult back-to-back games against Stony Brook and Hartford in the middle of this month, that could be tough. Those games will be at home, though, meaning there should be a great deal of fan support.
The Bearcats will continue their three-game road trip with a game against sixth place Albany at The Big Purple Growl tomorrow at 5:15 p.m.
Albany downed the Bearcats 63-59 in overtime when the two teams met in January at the Events Center in the America East opener. The Danes have lost four out of their last five, including a 58-44 loss to New Hampshire on Wednesday night.