Binghamton basketball travels to Boston University on Wednesday, but not for the men’s tournament. The women’s basketball team takes on the Terriers at 7 p.m. in its second-to-last game of the regular season and the Terriers’ last.
A half game separates the two BUs in the standings and both will take the court trying to stop two-game losing streaks. Binghamton (10-17, 6-8 America East) took the last meeting between the two on Jan. 27, 70-64. Junior center Laine Kurpniece scored a game-high 20 points that day. The preseason all-conference player reached double digits in her last nine games, including 18 points last game against conference leader Hartford Saturday.
‘We lost [that] game, but we definitely gained confidence,’ Kurpniece said. ‘We showed that we can play against Hartford, and that’s going to help in the Wednesday game at Boston. The higher we are in the standings is just going to help us in the America East tournament and then bring us more confidence, and we need to win this game.’
Boston (14-14, 6-9 AE) fell to New Hampshire on Saturday despite senior guard Katie Meinhardt’s 18 points. Katie leads the team at an average of 12.6 ppg, with senior forward Erica Kovach in second at 9.5 ppg. Kovach is tied with freshman forward Aly Hinton for the team lead in rebounds at 6.2 per game.
A Bearcat loss would put Boston ahead in the standings before Binghamton’s last game, Saturday, March 3, against second-to-last place New Hampshire at the Events Center. A win in either of the next two games secures Binghamton the No. 5 seed. The Bearcats could still capture the No. 4 seed depending on how Vermont, which has games remaining against New Hampshire and Albany, fares.
UMBC could also pass the Bearcats. The Retrievers split their games against the Bearcats this season, winning 60-50 in Baltimore before falling 68-65 at the Events Center on Valentine’s Day. Should Binghamton drop the final two contests and UMBC win out, the Retrievers move ahead by virtue of their non-conference record.
Head coach Rich Conover has an idea in mind as to what it will take to obtain that coveted third seed.
‘I think eight is the magic number ‘ Carl Yastrzemski, so it’s all set,’ Conover joked about the win total he thinks the team needs to reach.
The road to eight starts this Wednesday in Boston.
Daniel S. Pinzow and Mark Macyk contributed to this article.