While many students were relaxing over winter break, the Binghamton University women’s basketball team was hard at work. The Bearcats have dived into conference play and their overall record stands at 10-12, with an America East conference record of 4-5.
Binghamton posted a 4-2 record in November to open the season, but the Bearcats’ momentum began to fade entering December. BU started the month dropping four of five games, a rough patch that included losses in three consecutive matches.
The losing stint seemed to be fueled by the Bearcats’ struggle to keep opponents’ offenses at bay. In four of the team’s five early December losses, opponents scored more than 60 points.
Defensive inconsistency, especially in the second half of games, has continued to be an issue for the Bearcats. Binghamton has surrendered 154 more points in the second half of games than the first half. Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl attributes some of the team’s defensive woes to injuries on the roster.
“During that stretch we had some pretty key injuries,” Scholl said. “In large part, [sophomore guard] Jasbriell Swain missed two games for us and she is one of our top defenders. And [senior forward] Viive Rebane missing a game, she is another top defender.”
Jan. 2 kicked off America East play for the Bearcats as they took on University of Maine at home. Rebane scored a career-high 26 points to propel Binghamton to its first conference win.
The team then won its second consecutive game, topping Stony Brook University 44-32. The Bearcats held the Seawolves to only 14 points in the second half, capping off a stellar defensive performance. Scholl pointed out that defense is only one of the areas in which her team has improved.
“I think that we’re getting more consistent with both our focus on defense and attention to detail and same thing with our offense,” she said. “I think we’re getting more and more comfortable with what we’re doing within our system.”
But after starting conference play 2-0, the Bearcats dropped their next three games.
The first loss was dealt by Boston University. Swain did not play due to an injured foot, which took away a defensive threat for the Bearcats. Junior guard Mallory Lawes replaced Swain, however, scoring a season-high nine points on the offensive end. Despite Lawes’ contributions, 15 points from senior guard Orla O’Reilly and 16 points from senior guard Andrea Holmes, Binghamton fell to the Terriers 60-48.
The next two games showed a contrast between a poor-shooting Binghamton team and hot-shooting opponents as the Bearcats fell to the University of Vermont, 69-48, and University of Hartford, 63-41. The Bearcats lost Viive Rebane to an injury after the first half of the Hartford game, leaving them short a top defender.
Scholl noted that while key injuries like Rebane’s had a large impact on the team, they also opened up the court to other players to gain experience.
“I always knew [Rebane] was a big impact,” Scholl said. “It shows, too, in the games that she is in foul trouble and has to sit. But again, it opens up the opportunity to [senior forward] Sinead O’Reilly to get some time, and someone like a Sherae Swinson, one of our freshmen, to get some minutes. So if you look at the overall picture, an injury to Viive and having her not in the game, with that single game, probably made a big difference for us, but further down the road the experience for the players we’ve got I think are going to be valuable to us.”
Binghamton turned around its losing streak by winning its next two games against University of Maryland, Baltimore County 61-43, and University of New Hampshire, 64-55.
BU had improved to 10-10, but two one-point defeats would follow. The Bearcats lost at home to University at Albany, 37-36, and fell to University of Maine on Saturday, 48-47.
Going into Saturday’s game, Holmes had been averaging just over 15 points per game since the beginning of conference play. O’Reilly was averaging just over 14 points per game during that same stretch.
Scholl said she is looking for her team to keep improving incrementally.
“The ultimate goal right now is to take it one game at a time and continuing to improve within each game,” Scholl said.
Binghamton’s next game is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday when the Bearcats will host Stony Brook at the Events Center.