Despite the triumph of a big win on Sunday against Cleveland State, Cornell was unable to keep the momentum going and fell to Binghamton on Wednesday night, 61-48.
“It was a tough game from the start,” said junior Clare Fitzpatrick. “We didn’t play well from the tip … and didn’t come out with energy. It was tough.”
Both teams struggled to sink shots at the start, but Binghamton was able to gain an edge and finish the first half up by 10 points.
“We started off flat and weren’t hitting shots throughout the game,” said junior Spencer Lane. “We had some good looks but weren’t able to knock them down … We have to do a better job from the start, and come out with more energy.”
The Red emerged from the locker room stronger in the second half, and worked to cut the deficit to climb back within five of Binghamton. But the comeback effort proved not enough, as the Bearcats were able to start on a scoring streak that Cornell could not match.
“We came back in second half and played better, but it wasn’t enough,” Fitzpatrick said.
“Defensively we weren’t terrible,” Lane added. “But but we weren’t able to hit shots, and weren’t able to rebound.”
Fitzpatrick recorded 14 points, and sophomore Shelby Lyman picked up 11 for Cornell. Overall the team was only able to convert around 30 percent of its shots.
Binghamton shot nearly 38 percent from the field, but the Bearcats were able to get 16 offensive rebounds, resulting in 13 second-chance points.
“We saw a lot of good things [this season] … We’ve had some close tough losses, but we took a couple steps backwards with this game,” said Lane.
“If we had rebounded better would have had a different outcome,” Fitzpatrick said. “We came in expecting a win … We had just come off a huge win [against Cleveland State], and this definitely should have been a win-able game for us.”
The team now goes into a two-week break, which will be it opportunity to work on shot accuracy, rebounding and transition offense, according to Fitzpatrick.
“We use [transition offense] to spark our entire game, and it’s what we want as our identity,” she said. “In other games it has been very good, but it is something we will focus on. We need to become more consistent with executing, and if we can perfect the little things that have hurt us, we will come out of these two weeks a much better team.”
Despite the loss, the Red intends to use the experience as a learning opportunity, and is still optimistic about the rest of the season.
“We kept pushing, never gave up, and I think it’s a sign of our maturity that we played until the final second,” Fitzpatrick said. “We got it close [in the second half]…we never stop working hard, and will keep working hard until the last second.”
“It’s going to be a good season,” Lane added. “The losses we’ve had have been close, and we’re getting better each game. We’re a very deep team … a lot of players coming off the bench can do great things for us. We’re going to do good things, especially during ivy season, and that’s what we’re working toward right now.”
Original Author: Rebecca Velez