VESTAL, N.Y. – Nine months ago, the Binghamton women's basketball team saw their 2019-20 season halted prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday afternoon at the Events Center, it became the first Binghamton team in any sport to play an official game during the current academic year.
Although the Bearcats (0-1) lost 69-55 to Fairleigh Dickinson (1-1), they were the first Binghamton team back in action since March 12, when the swimming & diving teams were competing at the National Invitational Championship (NIC) Meet. The last Binghamton team to host a game on campus was the women's lacrosse team, when it defeated Colgate 12-8 on March 11.
"There was a lot of excitement on our team tonight," head coach
Bethann Shapiro Ord said. "It was the first time we got to play a full four quarters. This was a great learning experience. We are a young team and are just staring to gel and now that we are playing games and we are going against other teams, our chemistry will be getting even better."
Sophomore guard
Denai Bowman led all scorers with a career-high 22 points. Against the Knights, she went 11-for-17 from the field.
Sophomore forward
Clare Traeger, meanwhile, grabbed a game-high and career-best 11 rebounds. She was making her first career start.
Fairleigh Dickinson, however, had five players reach double figures in scoring. Sierra DeAngelo finished with a team-best 17 points while Chloe Wilson added 15 points.
The Knights' depth was most evident in bench production, an area in which they outscored Binghamton 28-13. They also took advantage of turnovers, scoring 24 points off of Bearcat miscues.
Binghamton held a 22-20 lead after one period of play but the tide turned in the second period. The Knights outscored the Bearcats 22-10 during that stretch to go up 42-32 at the half. Fairleigh Dickinson shot 62 percent in the second period (10-of-16) while the Bearcats shot just 35 percent (5-of-14).
The Knights built their lead to as much as 53-34 with 5:38 left in the third period. They kept that 19-point led until Binghamton netted five straight points in the final minute of regulation.
Taylor Christian added 13 points in the winning effort while Maria Roters (12 points) and Lindsey Mack (10) also reached double figures in scoring.
Binghamton started four sophomores and one junior against Fairleigh Dickinson. Junior guard
Hayley Moore was joined in the starting lineup by Bowman, Traeger, forward
Birna Benonysdottir and guard
Zahra Barnes.
Moore, Traeger and freshman guard
Elena Delicado each finished with six points. Benonysdottir, meanwhile led the Bearcats with four assists and a pair of blocks.
Binghamton heads to Niagara on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game.
NOTES: Bowman's previous career high of 14 points came against Hartford on Feb. 22, 2020 … Traeger's career-high in rebounding was seven, against Bloomsburg on Nov. 12, 2019 … due to COVID-19 guidelines set by New York State, there were no fans permitted at the game against Fairleigh Dickinson.
