Despite trailing for most of the game, the Binghamton women’s basketball team hung tight with Stony Brook throughout the teams’ Sunday matchup. The Bearcats (4-16, 2-5 America East) were down by just five halfway through the second frame, but the Seawolves (11-9, 4-3 AE) stretched the margin to pull away with a 67-54 victory.
The game started slowly for the Bearcats, who trailed Stony Brook, 22-13, with 8:16 remaining in the first half. But BU set out on an 11-point run to take the lead from the Seawolves, 24-22, with 3:45 on the clock. Junior guard Kim Albrecht hit two 3-point baskets and a layup before senior guard Gintare Surdokaite’s trey gave BU the lead.
“We had a couple of girls step up today,” BU head coach Linda Cimino said. “Gintare stepped up by hitting a couple of big threes for us. I thought we were unselfish in the first half. [The Seawolves] were double-teaming [freshman guards] Imani [Watkins]and Jasmine [Sina] and collapsing on them when they were driving and we were able to find the open girl.”
However, the Bearcats couldn’t keep the lead for long. Stony Brook responded with a 7-2 run of its own and headed into halftime back on top, 29-26.
Stony Brook also dominated the glass throughout the opening period. The Seawolves out-rebounded Binghamton, 25-6, during the period.
“We’ve gotten out-rebounded almost every game this year and it’s definitely our biggest weakness,” Cimino said. “It’s something that we work on every day in practice and try to improve on. I think that even though they out-rebounded us, we did enough little things and were able to score in key moments of the game to pull us within reach.”
Another thing missing from Binghamton’s first half were free-throw opportunities, as the Bearcats went to the line just twice. When they do make it to the line, the Bearcats knock down 73 percent of their free-throw attempts, which ranks second in the conference.
“It’s always our goal to try to get to the free-throw line at least 20 times in a game, and we ended up getting there maybe 17 times,” Cimino said. “That’s one of our goals — to attack the other team and get to the free-throw line — but we just didn’t do it in the first half.”
Coming out of the break, Binghamton did a better job at drawing fouls. They made 15 trips to the charity stripe, converting 13 points and keeping the deficit within single digits for a majority of the half.
The period’s turning point, however, came with 10:57 left to play when a layup by Sina brought the score to 45-40. The Bearcats misfired on their next five shots, converting just 25 percent of their attempts from the floor. Stony Brook dominated from that point forward, pushing the lead to as many as 14 points while cruising to victory.
The Seawolves’ offense took advantage of its 46-21 rebounding advantage, turning 22 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. Senior forward Sabre Proctor led the Seawolves in scoring with 14 points to go along with six rebounds. Sophomore guard Kori Bayne-Walker added 13 points while junior forward Brittany Snow contributed 10 and six boards.
The Bearcats are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday against UMBC. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Events Center.