For Immediate Release: Janaury 8, 2004
Contact: David O'Brian (dobrian@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6478

Binghamton rally to force overtime but fall short at Boston 67-62

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass.--Once again, Binghamton (1-9, 0-2 AE) rallied to force overtime against a tough opponent on the road. Once again, however, the Bearcats were unable to snatch victory, losing to Boston (6-5, 1-1 AE) 67-62 in an America East Conference women's basketball game on Saturday afternoon at the Case Arena. The defeat was the eighth straight for the Bearcats, who have gone into overtime three times in their last five games and have lost five times this year by five points or less.

"We had a fantastic effort against a very good team on their home floor," head coach Rich Conover said. "We'll get the ball to bounce our way very soon. I know that sounds like a broken record but we have not lost hope and I like the players we have. We made a lot of good stops to force overtime."

The Bearcats were down 57-52 when freshman guard Laura Sario (Espoo, Finland) drilled a three pointer with 22 seconds to go. She then stole the inbound pass from Boston's Larissa Parr and was fouled going to the basket. Sario then converted both her free throws with 15 seconds left to tie the game.

After Boston turned the ball over, Binghamton went for the win but a jumper by junior forward Jen Haubrich (Bow, N.H.) from the right baseline went off the rim at the buzzer.

The difference in overtime was at the free throw line. The Terriers made all six of their attempts while the Bearcats went 3-for-6 down the stretch. Binghamton rallied from four points down to tie the game at 61-61 with 1:05 left but the Terriers made all six of their free throws during the final 42 seconds.

Sario netted a game-high and career-high 17 points to go along with career-high eight rebounds, one block and the steal that forced overtime. Junior guard Jen Blues (Overland Park, Kan.) added 15 points while junior forward Rachel Laws (Wyncote, Pa.) recorded her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Haubrich added eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Freshman Laine Kurpniece (Riga, Latvia) had six points to go along with a game-high and career-high 13 rebounds.

The Bearcats travel to Cornell on Monday at 7 p.m. for their final non-conference game of the season

NOTES: Laws now has 11 career double-doubles ... the 13 rebounds by Kurpniece ties the highest total turned in by a Bearcat this season. Laws had 13 rebounds against St. John's on Dec. 7. In her past two games, Kurpniece has averaged 11.0 rebounds.