On Monday afternoon, Binghamton women’s basketball’s star point guard Jasmine Sina announced via Instagram that she would not be competing for the Bearcats this year. Later that evening, the BU athletic department revealed that Sina, a sophomore, had suffered a torn right ACL in a conditioning session. A source forwarded the Instagram post to Pipe Dream.
“Can’t believe I can’t play the one thing I love more than anything in the world,” Sina posted. “But I’ll be back on the court soon enough and supporting my team every step of the way.”
“Going to use the accomplishments from last season and my teammates for motivation every day to get better,” she added.
The guard’s absence will be a huge loss for the Bearcats in 2015-16. As a freshman, Sina initiated almost all of the Binghamton offense and was named the America East Rookie of the Year.
Sina almost never left the floor for BU, averaging 39.1 minutes per game. She started all 30 games for Binghamton while averaging a team high 14.8 points per game. That scoring average ranked sixth among all freshmen in the country.
Sina knocked down 35.6 percent of her 3-point attempts in 2014-15, while nailing three per game, which ranked seventh in the entire NCAA.
“Obviously it is a huge loss for our program,” BU head coach Linda Cimino said. “But, with all adversity, you have to look ahead and see how you are going to respond and react to it … We’ve got to make up for 15 points per game and the top 3-point shooter in the conference.
The absence of Sina will lead to an increased role for sophomore guard Imani Watkins. Watkins, who joined Sina on the AE All-Rookie Team last year, averaged 13.5 points per game as a freshman.
“Imani is going to be looked upon to score just like she was last year,” Cimino said. “She scored close to 14 a game last year and I’m hoping she can get up to 16 or 17 a game this year.”
Freshman guard McKayla Hernandez — who was set to back-up Sina — will now be expected to make a significant contribution this year.
“Well, we look at it as an opportunity for [Hernandez] to step up and take the point position,” Cimino said. “Jasmine is going to work with her and help develop her.”
While the loss of Sina is a major set-back for a rebuilding Bearcat program, Cimino still believes that the team has enough depth to be successful.
“The strength of the program last year was our backcourt, our guards,” Cimino said. “My goal this year was that we got better every time we stepped on the court, we played hard and we grew together as a team, and I still think we can do all of those things this year.