The Binghamton University women’s basketball team put months of hard work and effort to the test when it competed in the America East tournament in West Hartford, Conn. over the weekend. After defeating the University of New Hampshire Wildcats, the Bearcats’ season ended when they fell to the Boston University Terriers in the semifinals.
On Friday afternoon, the Bearcats squared off against the Wildcats in the quarterfinals without their leading scorer in first-team All-Conference point guard Andrea Holmes, whose season ended on Feb. 23 due to a torn ACL in her left knee. Without her, the Bearcats knew that they would have to step up their game.
Led by junior forward Viive Rebane, who scored 10 points in the opening 20 minutes, third-seeded Binghamton (19-12, 11-5 AE) played a strong first half and was up 28-16 over sixth-seed New Hampshire (9-20, 6-10 AE) at the break.
The Bearcats were able to carry their momentum over into the second half as they jumped off to a quick start. In the first 90 seconds, Binghamton went on a 7-2 run to extend its lead to 35-21. But with six minutes left in the game and the score at 56-41, the Wildcats made a run. Relentless defense by New Hampshire forced the Bearcats into eight turnovers during that short span and before Binghamton could blink, its lead was thinned to 56-50 with 3:32 to go. The game came down to free throws and the Bearcats sank 11-of-12 from the charity stripe over that stretch to seal a 67-53 victory.
Rebane finished with 20 points and was one of four Bearcats to finish with double-figure scoring totals. Joining her in the category were America East Rookie of the Year freshman Jasbriell Swain’s 14 points and nine rebounds, sophomore Kara Elofson’s 12 points and nine rebounds and senior Jackie Ward’s 11 points. Junior guard Orla O’Reilly also scored nine points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds while adding a game- and career-high six steals.
The win against New Hampshire set Binghamton up with a semifinal matchup against No. 2 Boston (17-13, 12-4 AE) on Sunday afternoon. After splitting their two conference matchups this season, both squads went into the game with extra motivation.
The Bearcats got off to another promising start on Sunday when Ward kick-started their offense with two 3-pointers in the first three minutes to help build a quick 8-2 lead. The remainder of the first half was back-and-forth as Binghamton clung to a 22-20 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Boston played much more aggressively and simply overpowered Binghamton. With the score knotted at 28 and 14:08 to play, the Terriers took control of the game. Boston’s Alex Young, who scored a game-high 37 points, including 26 points in the second half alone, proved to be too much to handle for the Bearcats. In the game’s final 14 minutes, the Terriers outscored Binghamton 31-16 to give them a 59-44 win.
Rebane finished with yet another double-double, posting 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Playing without Holmes presented a number of new challenges for Binghamton. A lot of responsibility trickled down and the Bearcats knew it would be crucial to adjust as quickly as possible.
“I think we did a really good job of coming back from that,” Ward said about losing Holmes for the season. “It’s a big blow to lose Andrea but we came together as a team, especially in the New Hampshire game. It’s kind of like everyone knew they had to step up in their own way to come together and play well. Because when you lose Andrea, you lose a lot of scoring and you lose your floor leader. I think that everyone kind of knew what they had to do in order to be successful and I think that everyone did that in both games. Everyone stepped up.”
Although the Bearcats’ unity was able to get them through the quarterfinals, Boston’s firepower was too much for Binghamton to handle in the second half of the semifinals.
“They got a couple of big 3’s and were able to build some momentum,” Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl said. “Defensively, I thought there were a few times in the second half where we kind of broke down where we had been solid all game long. It’s a game of runs and they made their run in the second half and we just weren’t able to respond.”
Even though the Terriers were firing on all cylinders on the offensive end in the second half, Ward acknowledged the importance of their defensive effort and how it thwarted the Bearcats.
“In the second half we came out strong but I think Boston’s defense picked up and [we] weren’t getting the looks we were trying to get on offense,” Ward said. “Our offense wasn’t running the way it usually runs and I think that’s in large part due to Boston’s defense. They played great defense and we struggled on offense a little bit so we would use the whole shot clock, would get stuck and then force up a poor shot. We just weren’t in rhythm.”
Ward, the only senior on the team, posted a team-high 17 points on Sunday and assumed a much greater role.
“It’s good to go out with a game like that for me personally but that’s not the way I would have preferred to end it,” Ward said. “I would rather have a win than a high-scoring game.”
Still, the Bearcats will have four starters returning next season as well as 11 letterwinners. Scholl knows the future is bright for her team.
“I’m really proud of this team,” she said. “They started off the year with some goals in mind and as we went on, we just got better and better. The leadership was fantastic, especially with Jackie as our only senior. I think [Ward] stepped up big when Andrea got hurt and so did the rest of team. For Jackie’s career to be over it’s sad but somewhat satisfying for her to go out with such a good year. I’m looking forward to what the future holds for this group.”