While the scoring prowess of sophomore guard Imani Watkins or the impressive post play of sophomore forward Alyssa James might be the first reasons that come to mind to explain the Binghamton women’s basketball team’s revival in 2015-16, the contributions of senior guard Kim Albrecht cannot be dismissed. The sharpshooter is deadly from the free-throw line, sinking 91.8 percent of her shots from the charity stripe — making her the best in NCAA Division I.
As Binghamton’s lone senior, Albrecht, a 5-foot-6-inch native of Deerfield, Wisconsin, has supplied her teammates with leadership and camaraderie. Looking back on her career, Albrecht is quick to point out that the best aspect of her time at BU has been the relationships she’s built with her teammates.
“This team has been great to play with and it’s a really good group of girls,” Albrecht said. “They make everything worthwhile. They’re my best friends and I’m so lucky to have them.”
Albrecht represents a turning point in the program’s history, considering the coaching change that BU made at the conclusion of her sophomore season. Albrecht is one of three current BU players who saw the transition of head coaches from Nicole Scholl to Linda Cimino — an experience that Albrecht says changed the culture in the locker room.
“The program has turned around in every aspect,” Albrecht said. “It’s been great to see how everybody has come together and bought into the new system. We’re all more disciplined and more like one unit. The success that we’re having in just our second year with Coach Cimino is incredible.”
A reserve player for her first two seasons, the coaching change provided a spark for Albrecht and the last two seasons have seen her emerge as one of the team’s impact players. In addition to her skill from the free-throw line, the senior also sits in the top two in the America East with a 41.4 three-point percentage.
“It’s been pretty cool,” Albrecht said. “I’ve had a lot of people congratulate me on the free throws. I just have to keep knocking them down when they matter most and try to stay focused.”
BU finished the season 10-3 in the Events Center. With the team playing so well at home, Albrecht is thankful that the Bearcats will have another home game in the America East Tournament, which will be hosted at the Events Center next weekend.
“Having the tournament at home gives us that much more confidence,” Albrecht said. “I think it’s so important to have a home game, especially in ones with such high stakes. We’ve played really well at home and we’ve really showed that we can play with anybody here.”
With Binghamton set to face-off in the America East Quarterfinals on Saturday night with UMBC, Albrecht remains confident in her team, who defeated the Retrievers (17-12, 8-8 AE), 70-56 on Wednesday.
“UMBC has a really high-pressure defense and they get a lot of easy points in transition off turnovers,” Albrecht said. “As long as we don’t turn the ball over, I think we’ll be fine.”