For Immediate Release: November 14, 2006
Contact: DavidO'Brian (dobrian@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6478

Binghamton rallies in second half but falls to Sacred Heart 57-53 in season opener

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VESTAL, N.Y. -- Down by as many as 21 points, Binghamton (0-1) staged a furious rally, only to fall short against defending Noartheast Conference champion Sacred Heart (1-1) 57-53 in a non-conference women's basketball game on Tuesday night at the Events Center. The visiting Pioneers are the first of five opponents the Bearcats host this season that reached the post season last year.

"We are disappointed with the outcome," head coach Rich Conover said. "We certainly played better as the game went on but Sacred Heart is a very good team."

Senior forward Jasmine Walker scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. Senior guard Amanda Pape added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Bearcats placed three players in double-figures. Senior guard Rebecka Lindgren (Oskarshamn, Sweden) finished with a team-high 12 points, sophomore forward Laura Franceski (Moscow, Pa.) added a career-high 11 points as well as seven rebounds while junior guard Laura Sario (Espoo, Finland) chipped in 10 points. Junior center Laine Kurpniece (Riga, Latvia) scored nine points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Binghamton led 10-8 with 12:00 remaining in the first half. In the ensuing portion of the first half, however, Sacred Heart went on a 26-6 run to take a 34-16 lead at the break.

Down 51-36 with 8:18 remaining, the Bearcats went on a 10-0 run pull to within 51-46 with four minutes remaining. The visiting Pioneers, however, kept it a two-possession game the remainder of the way.

Binghamton heads to the Florida Atlantic Tip-Off Classic this weekend, where they will square off against Winthrop on Friday and Akron on Saturday. Both games start at 5 p.m. EST.

NOTE: Rebecka Lindgren was named the Binghamton Player of the Game.