After a winless November, the Binghamton University women’s basketball team is taking the lessons it has learned into a new month as the players continue to search for their first victory of the year.
After dropping its home opener to St. Bonaventure University, the Bearcats (0-4) continued their season with an 87-74 loss against Syracuse University at the Carrier Dome on Nov. 22, their first road test of the season.
Strong shooting from the Orange doomed the Bearcats. Syracuse shot 51.5 percent for the game, and hit 14 of 31 3-pointers to shoot 45.1 percent from behind the arc. Senior Nicole Michael led the Orange with 36 points, 24 of those from the 3-point line, and 17 rebounds.
Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl gave credit to Syracuse, specifically Michael, for shooting the ball well over her team’s zone defense.
“Defensively, we didn’t think we could match their quickness, so we played zone all game [long]. Unfortunately, Nicole Michael had a good shooting night. Overall, I thought we fought hard the whole game and was pleased with our effort.”
Despite losing to the Orange, Scholl was content with sophomore point guard Andrea Holmes’ effort against the Orange. After losing to St. Bonaventure in the season opener, Scholl stated that she “didn’t look comfortable and relaxed like the Andrea Holmes of last season.” But at Syracuse, Holmes had 28 points on 52.6 percent shooting, along with five assists and three rebounds.
“I thought Andrea had a very solid game vs. Syracuse,” Scholl said. “She hit a couple of shots early and got a lot of confidence.”
After falling at Syracuse, Binghamton returned home to face Lehigh University last Tuesday. At the end of the first half, the Bearcats only trailed 30-29, but the game slipped away in the second half and they fell to the Mountain Hawks, 76-62.
Scholl cited poor interior defense as her team’s downfall in the second half. The Bearcats blocked just one shot all game, when sophomore Viive Rebane swatted a Tricia Smith layup attempt with 3:07 left in the game.
“Lehigh, in the second half, really pushed the ball in transition and got too many easy shots in the paint,” Scholl said. “We didn’t do a good job of defending the paint.”
While the Bearcat loss to Lehigh dropped them to 0-3 on the season, the Bearcats improved their performance on the boards. St. Bonaventure and Syracuse out-rebounded Binghamton 40-27 and 47-36 in the team’s first two games, respectively, but the Bearcats edged the Mountain Hawks 40-38 in rebounds in last Tuesday’s contest. Rebane had nine rebounds, Holmes had seven and senior Darryll Peterson had seven in just nine minutes of action.
Binghamton traveled to Canisius College searching for its first victory of the season, and as a result played its closest game of the year, but couldn’t overcome the Golden Griffins in the final minutes. Trailing 28-18 at the half, the Bearcats stormed back with a 19-9 run to tie the game up at 37-37. Binghamton held a one-point lead with 3:13 left after a Jackie Ward jumper, and the teams went back and forth for the remainder of the game.
The Bearcats led 47-46 in the final minute, but Canisius’ Brittane Russell hit two free throws to give them the lead. Binghamton missed a shot at the other end, and Russell hit two more from the charity stripe to expand the lead to three. The Bearcats missed what would have been the game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer, to seal their fate.
The Bearcats beat their opponent on the glass for the second straight game, this time by a 38-31 margin. But the telling statistic was turnovers; Binghamton’s season-high 24 giveaways doomed the booming second half production.
“The second half of Canisius just shows how good we can be,” Scholl said. “We were much more aggressive offensively and defensively. Our game plan was to attack the basket and we did that in the second half. We didn’t rely so much on our outside shooting. Unfortunately, turnovers and lack of offensive execution hurt us in the end.”
Binghamton shot 47.6 percent from the field in the second half, its best shooting percentage of any half this season. But shooting just 8-of-14 from the free-throw line, compared to a perfect 8-for-8 for Canisius (all from Russell), was another area in which the Bearcats struggled.
Ward had a team-high 13 points in the contest to go along with three rebounds. Holmes had nine points and a season-high six assists, but turned the ball over a team-high eight times. Rebane and senior Erica Carter led the team with six rebounds apiece.
The Bearcats have now dropped their opening four games, compared to a 2-2 start last year. But Scholl is optimistic about her squad’s season.
“This group is too determined to let a few early losses dictate what the rest of their season is going to be like.”
The Bearcats’ next shot at their first victory is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Siena.