Call it a case of bad timing.

The Binghamton University women’s basketball team completed a rather successful winter break compiling a record of 6-3. Unfortunately, that record just over a week ago was 6-1.

“We had a good month,” said head coach Rich Conover. “We had some really good wins, and we had some really tough losses.”

As the break wore on, the Bearcats (10-6, 3-2 AE) were hit with a pair of devastating injuries, losing senior forwards Jen Haubrich and Rachel Laws for extended periods of time. These injuries coincided with key America East matchups against Stony Brook, Boston University and the first place Hartford Hawks.

The Bearcats survived Stony Brook (10-6, 3-2 AE) 65-64 thanks to a double-double from sophomore center Laine Kurpniece and some key play from sophomore reserves Juta Jahilo and Laura Sario, who thrived when given the chance to play, averaging 7.2 and 9.0 points per game respectively.

“Juta played really well over the break thanks to her extended play because of the injuries,” Conover said.

The Bearcats then headed to Boston where the second place Terriers (10-6, 3-2 AE) handled them 77-68. Haubrich returned to action and played 19 minutes, while Laws missed her second straight.

The Bearcats returned home to take on the Hawks (14-2, 6-0 AE), and despite still being without their star forward Laws, the Bearcats held a 64-61 with just over a minute to go. Hartford would rally back and come away with a 65-64 lead to leave them undefeated in AE play.

When asked whether he thought Laws would have made the difference, Conover leaned toward no.

“You never like to think like that,” he said. “Obviously Rachel is a leader of the team, she was there on the bench cheering everyone on.”

Binghamton now sits in a three-way tie with Boston and Stony Brook for second place. Guard Jen Blues has compensated for the absence of her fellow seniors by averaging a team-high 12 points in conference play. Kurpniece has also averaged 12 points and seven rebounds against America East competition.

The injuries and sudden losing streak tend to weaken the impact of the beginning of the break where BU rattled off six wins in seven games with big wins against AE foes New Hampshire and Maine, and Big East rival Syracuse for the first time in school history.

“That was just great,” Conover said. “Syracuse is a very prominent program in the area. It was great to go on the road and beat them.”