Coming off a historic season, finishing with its fifth-highest win total in 47 years, the Binghamton women’s basketball program was a formidable opponent during the 2019-20 America East (AE) season. However, after all five players in the starting lineup either graduated or transferred, the Bearcats have an uphill battle to fight to this season.

Despite the turnover, BU was picked fifth out of 10 teams in the AE preseason coaches’ poll after finishing last season with a 22-9 record, and earning a spot in the AE semifinals. This year’s team will look a lot different though as a direct result of its starting five’s departure. The loss of former AE Player of the Year guard Kai Moon, ‘20, will be particularly hard to overcome. However, head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord believes that this year’s roster could still pull together a great season.

“Although we lost the starting five, two of [last year’s players] could have started, with [sophomore guard] Denai Bowman and [senior forward] Kaylee Wasco, and they had quite a few minutes last year,” Shapiro Ord said.

Bowman averaged 6.6 points per game last season while playing as a reserve player in most of her 31 appearances. In eight of those showings, she reached double digits in scoring. Alongside Bowman, sophomore guards Clare Traeger and Cassidy Roberts were cited by Shapiro Ord as additional threats in the Bearcats’ sophomore class, as well as sophomore forward Birna Benonysdottir, who transferred from Arizona during the offseason. Shapiro Ord said all of them show promising chemistry during training.

“Once they were all together, you could just see how quickly they started molding,” Shapiro Ord said. “It’s still a work in progress because there are so many new players, but you wouldn’t know it.”

To fill the hole left by Moon, who was just shy of a 20 points per game average and ranked first in the AE last season, the team has been hard at work to show that they still belong in the conference’s topflight, according to Shapiro Ord.

“We continue to hold [the team] to high standards,” Shapiro Ord said. “They’ve been working really hard. We hold each other accountable.”

The team’s second-highest scorer from last season, guard Carly Boland, ‘20, graduated alongside Moon. In addition to averaging 10 points per game, her supportive role on the team will also be absent this season as the former guard averaged 3.0 assists and 1.1 blocks per game, good enough for 10th and fourth in the conference respectively. Outside of the starting five, Bowman managed the most blocks and assists of last year’s team.

The challenge to maintain last year’s consistency is only compounded by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which had limited training and communication opportunities during the offseason. Along with showing hard work on the court, safety has been one of the program’s top priorities.

“It’s all about these kids and keeping them safe first and foremost, and our administration from our athletics director Pat Elliott and the president have been so good of making sure everyone is put in the right situation,” Shapiro Ord said.

Along with every other team in the conference, the Bearcats will also have to deal with the lack of fan support in the arena as a result of COVID-19 safety concerns limiting game attendance. Nonetheless, games will still be broadcast live for fans to tune in, allowing athletes to more safely get back on the court and compete.

“[I’m] ecstatic for these girls, these players, these young women who have done so much, and also for this community,” Shapiro Ord said. “They’re not going to be able to come see us in the stands, but they’ll be able to watch us live on ESPN+.”

After navigating a constantly changing schedule in nonconference play, Binghamton’s first AE matchup of the season will be against rivals Stony Brook, who beat the Bearcats 42-57 in last year’s semifinals and denied them a spot in the conference finals against of Maine. The Seawolves, picked second in the AE preseason poll, will be the first major hurdle for the Bearcats to jump.

“The biggest message with this team is, ‘We will be successful if we stay together,’” Shapiro Ord said. “They all have to bring it.”