Twelve disastrous minutes doomed the Binghamton women’s basketball team.

Spurred by a 24-6 first half run, the defending Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart Pioneers (1-1) defeated Binghamton 57-53 in Tuesday night’s regular season opener at the Events Center. The Bearcats (0-1) shot an arctic 19.2 percent in a first half, which turned from competitive to humiliating almost instantaneously. During the game-breaking run that gave Sacred Heart a 34-16 halftime lead, the Bearcats connected only twice in 16 attempts from the field.

“You can’t shoot 19 percent and turn the ball over 13 times in a half against an NCAA team like Sacred Heart,” said head coach Rich Conover.

As the Pioneers left the court for the intermission, fired up and motivated to continue the rout, Conover read his team the riot act. The 16-point first half effort was the worst offensive output for the women’s basketball team in Vestal since Feb. 26, 2005, when the Bearcats managed only 15 points before the half against Boston University.

“At halftime we decided, are we going to go out and have some aggression?” Conover said. “Are we going to have some intensity? Are we going to play together? They’re sayings, but they go a long way.”

The first five minutes of the second half looked like an embarrassing rehash of the first 20, as the Pioneers stretched their 18-point lead to a 21-point cushion. But the Bearcats finally clicked as a team and refused to throw in the towel.

“I don’t know if we decided that we would play better,” said senior guard Rebecka Lindgren, who led BU with 12 points. “We all wanted to show that we were better than that.”

Binghamton proceeded to rip off an 11-0 run. Three-pointers from Lindgren and fellow senior Shea Kenny helped reduce the deficit to 10 with 12 minutes remaining. After Sacred Heart stretched the lead back to 15, the Bearcats responded with another 10-0 run to cut the margin to 51-46 with 4:08 on the clock.

The comeback stalled down the stretch, as missed opportunities cost BU the comeback victory. Lindgren turned the ball over on a fast break opportunity, which would have cut the lead to three, and with 30 seconds left.

Despite the loss, sophomore forward Laura Franceski felt confident about the team’s future. Franceski, who earned the nickname “Franchise” from her teammates last year for her defensive abilities, shined for the Bearcats off the bench. She scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in only 19 minutes of action.

“I think we just have to play the whole game like we did in the second half,” Franceski said.

Although Conover was encouraged by the second half effort, he issued a word of caution.

“As long as we have energy and effort, that can help you improve. But if you’re not going to have that intensity and focus, then you’re behind the eight ball.”

The women’s basketball team will try again for their first win of the season as they travel to Boca Raton, Fla., to compete in the Florida Atlantic Tip-Off Classic. The Bearcats will play back-to-back afternoon games against the Winthrop Eagles on Friday and the Akron Zips on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to start at 5 p.m.