Binghamton women’s basketball sophomore forward Imani Watkins made a crucial layup to tie the game at 65 with just six seconds remaining in Thursday’s game against Brown (7-1), setting her team up for what potentially could have been its first true road win since January 2014. It was the Bears, however, who had the last word — senior guard Jordin Alexander netted a jumper with just two seconds left to power the Bears past the Bearcats (2-5), 67-65.
Alexander proved to be BU’s kryptonite throughout the match, recording 18 points and five assists. While the Bearcats defended strongly against Brown’s freshman duo of guard Shayna Mehta and forward Erika Steeves, who have combined to win the last three Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards, they had no answer for Alexander.
“Alexander was killing us all game,” Binghamton head coach Linda Cimino said in a post-game interview. “We didn’t defend her all game. It’s only fitting that she’s the one that made the buzzer-beater, and it was a good shot.”
BU and Brown opened the contest by trading the lead throughout the first period, keeping the game within two possessions. Binghamton ended the quarter with an 18-17 advantage thanks to a layup by sophomore forward Alyssa James with one second left, but this lead soon dissipated. The Bears, who shot 45.9 percent from the field, went on a 14-2 run in the second period to head into the locker room ahead, 39-33.
The Bears headed into the final period up, 58-50, after the third quarter following another run, this time an 8-0 one.
Binghamton’s offense came back from this eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter before the BU defense allowed a thrilling comeback to slip from its grasp.
The Bearcats, who shot 37.7 percent from the field, outscored the Bears, 15-9, in the final period, recording six straight points before a triple from Mehta gave Brown a four-point advantage with just over a minute left.
Despite a resurgent Binghamton offense, the Binghamton defense allowed a crucial steal with just 22 seconds left to play trailing by just two. It was once again Alexander who thwarted BU, stealing the ball on an inbound from senior guard Kim Albrecht. Ahead, 65-63, the Bears continued to wind the clock down until BU gained possession off of a Brown turnover. The hiccup by the Bears allowed Watkins to tie the game at 65, but Alexander ultimately found the net on Brown’s final possession to give the Bears the win. According to Cimino, it was a defensive miscommunication for BU which ultimately led to Alexander’s game-winning running floater in the lane.
“Some of our kids were up and some of our kids were back,” Cimino said. “That’s something we’ll work on. We wanted everyone to get back, but it didn’t work out that way.”
Despite the heartbreakingly narrow loss, Cimino views the contest as a confidence-boosting experience for the team.
“I’m proud of the effort we gave,” she said. “It is what it is, and we know that we can compete with the best now. [There are] things to build on right now, but to be tied with four seconds left against a team that’s 6-1 … I couldn’t have written it any other way.”
James led Binghamton with 19 points while Watkins was close behind with 18. Rounding out BU’s offensive effort were freshman forward Rebecca Carmody and Albrecht, who tallied 14 and 11 points, respectively. This marked the first time this season in which four different Bearcats have reached double-digit scoring in the same game.
Binghamton is set to return to action on Monday against Colgate. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.