Staring at the threat of a fifth consecutive loss to begin the season, the Binghamton University women’s basketball team refused to let victory slip away this time.
The Bearcats used clutch free throws in overtime and a career night from junior guard Jackie Ward to earn its first win of the season, a 76-70 victory over Siena College (0-6) on Wednesday night. Binghamton (1-4) tallied its highest point total of the year in the winning effort.
Ward dropped a career-high 26 points on 10-of-23 shooting and added six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Ward had scored just six points in the first half but torched the Saints for 20 after the break. After starting the year with a 1-for-13 shooting night against St. Bonaventure, Bearcats head coach Nicole Scholl said that Ward played well considering the circumstances.
“I really think it was a matter of taking what the defense gave her,” Scholl said of Ward’s scoring. “Siena keyed on [Andrea] Holmes and [Erica] Carter and it gave Jackie more open looks. She got more confidence as the game went on.”
Despite Siena’s focus on shutting down Holmes, she still filled up the stat sheet with 21 points, a season-high eight assists, four rebounds and three steals. Ten of her 21 came from the charity stripe. Carter managed to score 13 points and grab four rebounds.
“[Andrea] is definitely getting there,” Scholl said of Holmes’ development. “Every game that we play, I feel like our whole team gains more confidence on the floor. For Andrea, it helps to have Ward so she doesn’t have to carry the burden of taking the ball up for the whole game.”
Senior forward Theodora Panteli had a career-high 12 rebounds as well as six points, and senior guard Darryll Peterson came off the bench to grab eight boards. The Bearcats outrebounded their opponent for the third consecutive game, this time by a 48-44 margin.
“The rebounding was really something we had some concern about, and I think we challenged our players and they really answered that challenge,” Scholl said on the Bearcats’ post presence. “It’s a mentality for Dora [Panteli] and Darryll; they go in and provide us with a lot of rebounding even though they don’t always play a lot of minutes. That’s the kind of production we need game-in and game-out.”
Binghamton and Siena were tied 22-22 at halftime before the Bearcats went on a 15-0 run to take a big lead. Binghamton held a 60-52 lead with 2:25 left, but the Saints chipped away at the deficit and tied the game with 18 seconds left. Holmes then hit two free throws, but Siena’s Christina Centeno hit a pair from the line with 1.9 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
Siena jumped out to a 66-62 lead to start the overtime period before Ward hit a 3-pointer and sophomore forward Viive Rebane made a layup to give the Bearcats a one-point lead. After that, Binghamton hit nine free throws to finish off the Saints.
“It was a very big team win,” Scholl said. “They worked hard the whole game, and to [win] in OT, I think it gave us confidence.”
The Bearcats had been shooting less than 55 percent from the free throw line in their first four games, but shot 71 percent in the second half and overtime, including 9-of-14 in the extra session, when they needed it most.
“Free throws are so important,” Scholl said. “We haven’t been shooting a great percentage, and we had some players step up at the line.”
The Bearcats’ next test will be Niagara University (1-6), which earned its first win of the season on Wednesday night against Bucknell University.
“It’s another important game,” Scholl said of the upcoming contest. “To get our first win at home would be nice. They’re hungry for another win.”
Binghamton is set to take on the Purple Eagles at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Events Center.