With just one season of play as a Bearcat under her belt, junior forward Olivia Ramil has played a significant role on the team. Last season, the 6-foot-2-inch forward was sixth in the America East (AE) in blocks per game, third on the team in rebounding and fourth in scoring. She was also a member of the AE Commissioner’s Honor Roll with a 3.5 GPA or higher.
With both her and the rest of the team’s accomplishments, Ramil wants the team to improve upon its 12-18 record and seven conference victories from the 2018-19 season.
“I think we all have the same goal — win our conference and make it to the NCAA tournament,” Ramil said. “We got a lot better since last year and we’re excited.”
Ramil is from Binghamton and played on the Binghamton High School team for four years, leading her team to the Southern Tier Athletic Conference Championships her junior and senior years and winning the New York State Section 4 title her senior year. Before Ramil came to Binghamton University, however, she played her freshman year at Georgetown with her sister, Jodi-Marie Ramil.
Olivia Ramil played in 21 games with 12 starts at Georgetown, while her sister, a sophomore at the time, appeared in 14 games. The pair transferred to Binghamton together in the 2017-18 season, with both redshirting due to NCAA regulations regarding transfers. Prior to the 2018-19 season, without ever playing a game for the Bearcats, Jodi-Marie Ramil transferred to Iona.
Olivia Ramil’s younger sister, sophomore forward Annie Ramil, made her Bearcat debut at the same time as her sister. The pair played together last season, and Annie Ramil said her sister is helping shape her to improve her game this year.
“Mentally, on the court, we know what each other’s gonna do since we’ve been playing together for so long,” Annie Ramil said. “Olivia’s been teaching me a lot of moves at the five.”
Last season, there were just two newcomers on the team. But this year, there are six new faces on the team, so Olivia Ramil knows she must be a leader for the younger players.
“[The newcomers] are all working very hard, which is the most important thing,” Olivia Ramil said. “They’re adjusting to the academic part of things and the sports part of things, and they’re all doing a great job.”
With the 2019-20 season about to begin, Olivia Ramil said her coaches have been working hard and pushing everyone on the team. Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord seems pleased with how Olivia Ramil and the rest of the upperclassmen are performing thus far in the preseason.
“Olivia Ramil and [junior forward] Kaylee Wasco, my two bigs, have done a great job,” Shapiro Ord said. “The upperclassmen are a pretty great group.”
With four returning starters, Olivia Ramil seems confident about the upcoming season and hopes the experienced team can do some damage on the court.
“We’ve been working every day and competing against each other because we know that we’re eventually gonna be playing against other teams,” Olivia Ramil said. “We’re pushing each other every day, and we have those high goals this year.”