If anyone wanted to see a replay of what happened to the Bearcats in the America East Men’s Basketball Championship, all they would have to do is attend the AE Women’s Basketball Championship last Friday in Hartford.

Fifth seed? Check. Nice lead in the first half? Check. Seeing it disappear in the second? Check.

Even the final score was almost identical. The only difference was that this time, it was archrival Albany who defeated the Binghamton University women’s team, 64-57.

“We were definitely disappointed with the outcome,” said Bearcat head coach Rich Conover. “I thought we played a great first half and we made a few great plays, but we lost ourselves to Albany in the end.”

The Bearcats gave it all they had in the first half, coming back from a nine-point deficit with six minutes remaining and going on a 20-2 dash to seal it 36-27. They went 5-for-6 from behind the arc, and had a shooting percentage of 44.

It looked as if Binghamton had finally turned the game around, but in the second half, the team reverted. The Great Danes looked for redemption, stepping up their defense and forcing 27 Binghamton turnovers while going on an impressive 23-4 run. Albany held the Bearcats scoreless for the first six minutes, extending their lead to 10 with 10 minutes remaining.

Binghamton tried to make its second comeback, but it could not get within more than three points. A layup by Binghamton freshman Jackie Ward brought the game down to four points with nine seconds left, but Albany’s Britney McGee and Tanika Thrower had the last shots and widened the lead to seven, effectively ending the game.

“I imagined we would get to the finals,” Conover said. “We had the chance to do some great things but we stumbled on our first attempt.”

Despite an abrupt end to the championship run, many Bearcats did well. Senior Laine Kurpniece showed exactly why she was named All-Conference first team, with 14 points and had a career-high 15 rebounds. Laura Sario also left a notable last mark dumping in the game-high 16 points.

Although the stars of the team are leaving, the remaining players show a lot of hope. Sophomore Erica Carter showed a preview of what Bearcat fans could expect from her next season, with her 14 points and three back-to-back 3-pointers that started the takeover in the first half.

“Obviously we are going to have a young team [next season],” said Conover “We are going to have to come out with a lot of energy and focus. I think we need to have more work ethic and learn to understand the meaning of hard work.”

As for the rest of the teams in the America East championship games, Albany fell to No. 1 Hartford 40-60 in the semifinals, while No. 3 Boston University triumphed over No. 2 Vermont 76-74. Hartford clinched the America East Championship title, defeating the Terriers 61-45. The Hawks will go on to play in the NCAA championships for the third time in four seasons.