Bearcat Women open season with loss to Bonnies

11/10/2012 (Updated 11:14:58 PM)

OLEAN, NY -- Ashley Zahn scored a game-high 14 points, leading St. Bonaventure (1-0) to a 61-34 win over Binghamton (0-1) in a non-conference womens basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Bob Lanier Court.

The game marked the start of the Bearcats 12th season as a NCAA Division I program.

A stifling St. Bonaventure defense limited the Bearcats to just 24 percent shooting for the game (11-of-45). In addition, the Bonnies scored 22 points off of turnovers and committed just seven miscues themselves.

St. Bonaventure is a veteran team, head coach Nicole Scholl said. They are very solid defensively and took away a lot of our best options to score. Still, we have to learn how to finish better.

A bright spot for Binghamton was the play of freshman forward Morgan Murphy. She came off the bench to score a team-high 12 points and grab six rebounds. In the process, she became the first Bearcat rookie to reach double figures in scoring in a season opener since current junior guard Jasbriell Swain had 18 points in 2010.

After each team started off the game with a three-point field goal, the Bearcats went on a 7-0 run to go up 10-3 with 14:24 left in the first half.  Binghamton got balanced scoring during that span and senior forward Kara Elofson corralled four rebounds.

The decisive run of the first half, however, was a 17-0 Bonnie blitz which put them up 22-12 with 5:39 left in the first half. Katie Healy scored six points during that stretch and Binghamton misfired on seven consecutive field goal attempts.

St Bonaventure then closed out the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 33-18 lead. All seven points came off of Bearcat turnovers.

After the break, the Bonnies picked up where they left off, scoring the first five points and 10 of the first 13 points to go up 43-21 with 15:17 left in regulation. The final St. Bonaventure run was a 9-0 attack to go up 54-24 with 7:53 left in regulation.

Healy finished 12 points and seven rebounds in the winning effort while Cece Dixon chipped in 10 points.

Binghamton returns home to face Cornell on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

NOTES: Sixteen of the Bearcats 34 points were scored by freshmen. Kandace Newry and Kim Albrecht each added two points  Swain finished with a team high seven rebounds St. Bonaventure has now won all seven meetings against Binghamton.

(Courtesy BU Athletics)