Chances are that Huntington, West Virginia, and Morehead, Kentucky, are not ideal places for college students to spend their weekends.
Despite this fact, the Binghamton University women’s basketball team headed to the backcountry this weekend to do battle with some Southern foes, defeating Marshall 77-68 on Friday before falling to Morehead State 66-61 the following night. The Bearcats continued their inspired upbeat play throughout the road trip that they showed during the previous home stand.
For the second straight year, Marshall (3-3) had no answer for the Bearcats (3-3), who once again received a dominating performance from sophomore center Laine Kurpniece who registered a team high 19 points and nine rebounds, narrowly missing her second consecutive double-double. Junior guard Shea Kenny had her best showing of the year, scoring all 14 of her points in the second half to help BU put the game away.
“Laine had another outstanding game,” said head coach Rich Conover, “and Shea Kenny was instrumental in the win.”
BU trailed 49-48 with less than seven minutes to go in the game, when Kenny drilled a three-pointer that kicked off a 19-7 run to put the game out of reach. Kenny led the charge during that stretch, going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
The game was an up and down battle, that saw the Bearcats jump to an early 25-15 lead, only to be silenced by a 13-1 Marshall run. The Bearcats went into the half with a one-point lead, and would trail by as many as six points in the second half.
“I felt that we played a really solid game,” Conover said. “Everyone really worked hard.”
The next night, The Bearcats headed to Kentucky to take on the Morehead State Eagles. It was BU’s third game in four days, and they struggled to find their stride early. Morehead (4-1) ended the first half on a 26-7 run to take a 40-28 lead into the locker room.
“I think we ran out of gas,” Conover said. “It was our third game in four days. We really were tired that game.”
The Bearcats would battle back however, cutting the deficit to 63-61. But BU would commit two consecutive turnovers and the Eagles hit their free throws to ice the game and snap the Bearcats three-game winning streak.
Senior forward Rachel Laws recorded yet another double-double scoring 17 points and registering 10 rebounds. Senior forward Jen Haubrich added 17 points and three boards before fouling out in the second half.
“We showed a lot of determination in coming back late,” Conover said. “I really liked that.”