The Binghamton women’s basketball team (13-16, 8-8 America East) is heading into the conference tournament with something it has missed for the past five seasons: a serious chance to win. The Bearcats will carry the fifth seed — the highest position they’ve held since 2010-11 — into the quarterfinals on Saturday when they take on fourth-seeded UMBC (17-12, 8-8 AE) at the Events Center.
Binghamton will host the AE tournament for the second year in a row, and this fact alone may play the biggest role in determining the outcome of BU’s quarterfinal game. On their home court this season, the Bearcats have gone an impressive 10-3, a far cry from their 3-11 record in the Events Center in 2014-15. Binghamton’s only victory against UMBC this season came at home last week.
For BU head coach Linda Cimino, it’s the energy generated by the fans that makes the difference.
“We obviously play much better at home,” Cimino said following the UMBC game. “We have a huge home court advantage with our awesome crowd. The kids are really comfortable playing on this court.”
Binghamton will have to rely on energy from both internal and external sources as it takes on UMBC, splitting its regular season mark with the Retrievers. In the first meeting on Jan. 27, the Retrievers went on a 10-point run to open the second half, giving them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish to defeat Binghamton, 62-51. Junior forward Pandora Wilson and classmate guard Taylor McCarley led the UMBC offensive effort to victory, contributing 18 and 17 points, respectively.
In the teams’ most recent match-up on Feb. 24, Binghamton relied on career-high scoring totals from sophomore guard Imani Watkins, who drained 30 points, and freshman guard Rebecca Carmody, who added 22, to overpower the Retrievers, 76-50.
Binghamton will look to attack UMBC from beyond the arc, where it has had plenty of success this season. BU ranks third in the AE with a 32.1 3-point field goal percentage while UMBC ranks in the bottom third, making just 26.4 percent of its attempted threes. In Binghamton’s first face-off with UMBC, senior forward Kim Albrecht went 6-for-7 from behind the line. In last week’s victory over the Retrievers, it was déjà vu, except this time it was Watkins who hit six threes, five of which came in the first quarter. If BU can replicate this prowess from deep in its quarterfinal matchup on Saturday, winning is a very real possibility.
Also integral to Binghamton’s match-up with UMBC will be BU’s defense, which has impressed all season and must continue to do so to keep the Bearcats’ playoff hopes alive. Spearheading this effort once again will be sophomore forward Alyssa James, who leads the conference in blocked shots per game, averaging 3.0 per contest.
In order to come out on top against the Retrievers, Cimino believes Binghamton must treat each possession with the same level of importance.
“I preach all season long, ‘one possession,’” Cimino said. “Every possession counts in a game and if we can keep the game within one or two possessions, we can beat anybody. That’s all you want. You want a shot to win at the buzzer, you want a shot to be right there when the game is on the line and I think right now the team is playing in such a way that they believe if they do what they’re supposed to do, they’re just as good as anybody.”
Tip-off for the quarterfinal match-up is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday from the Events Center in Vestal, New York.