It takes more than just an outstanding defense to win championships.

The Binghamton women’s basketball team defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (2-3) on Thanksgiving Eve, but lost to the then-undefeated Liberty Flames (5-1) and the still-undefeated La Salle Explorers (6-0) on Saturday and Wednesday. Although the Bearcats (2-4) succeeded in holding their three opponents to a combined 35 percent from the field, they just could not find a way to score, averaging only 49 points per game.

Through six regular season games, BU has failed to score more than 53 points.

“We do need more confidence offensively,” admitted head coach Rich Conover after Binghamton fell to Liberty 62-45 last Saturday. “They’re just going to have to accept the fact that one of them needs to be the go-to player.”

Right now the primary option in Binghamton’s offense seems to be forward Laura Sario. The 6-foot-1 junior has started to show her potential, registering double-digit scoring performances in each of the Bearcats’ previous three games.

“Laura has to be committed to shooting the ball,” Conover said after the loss to La Salle. “She shot it 17 times tonight, and that’s just fine with me.”

In BU’s win last Wednesday, a 53-49 nail-biter against FDU, Sario led the Bearcats on the score sheet with 16 points. Brianna Thompson posted the best game of her career with a 13-point, 14-rebound effort.

On Saturday, Binghamton came out of the gate playing a stifling defense against a Flames team that had averaged 81 points per game entering the contest. The Bearcats put on a defensive clinic, holding Liberty to 23 points in the first half, but was unable to capitalize, scoring just 19. The game was tied at 25 early in the second half, but Liberty used a 15-2 run to open up a commanding lead. After senior Shea Kenny hit a pair of 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 40-35 with 12:31 remaining, Liberty iced the game with a 12-1 spurt.

“It’s like we can play defense on anybody,” Sario said. “We just need to get our offense going.”

Players also emphasized that the opponent cannot dictate how the Bearcats play their game.

“We can’t say, ‘Oh wow, I can’t believe we’re in this game,’” Kenny said when referring to Liberty’s reputation as a mid-major power. “It needs to be, ‘We should be here and we’re in the game for a reason. We are this good and just keep going with that.’”

On Wednesday night, BU found itself in a 32-20 half-time hole against La Salle. BU managed to cut the lead to 48-43 on a Thompson three-pointer with 7:57 remaining, but could not completely close the gap. With the game on the line late in the contest, three-time Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Crista Ricketts scored 6 of her 18 points to put the game away; Ricketts also had 11 rebounds.

“We weren’t able to get any sustained runs,” Conover said.

Binghamton will continue their road trip when they travel to Buffalo to take on Canisius (4-1) this Saturday at 2 p.m.