Coach Kelly...

On what Columbia did well in tonight’s game:

“They were able to get the ball inside. Their post players had a great game. Their center on the inside had a great game. She has big hands and it’s tough to stop her. Their guards were strong; Sue Altman wound up with a career-high.”

On Binghamton’s early-season play:

“We had a chance to put them away tonight, but right now we’re not playing enough good minutes to win games. We’re a young team, but it gets to the point where you have to start establishing yourself. We’re not going to score more than the mid-60’s, but we’re just giving up way too many points; we’re struggling defensively. The team is down and we’re disappointed, but we have conference opponents coming up that are a lot tougher than Columbia. We have two tough games coming up against Manhattan and Syracuse. We have to get back and play better.”

“We need to put more minutes together and win some games. We’ve had some really exciting glimpses of what this team can do, but it doesn’t help us when it’s not for 40 minutes at a time. We need to stay together as a team. When you’ve had some losses with a young team, the most important thing is to stay confident. We want to be a team that is in the America East Conference Tournament and has a chance to grow into a team that could go to the NCAA Tournament.”

On Binghamton’s defense:

“We’re gambling a lot on defense right now. We’re trying to get out in the passing lane, but we’re still too scrambled. We’re struggling in the post. After Nicole [Dypolt], our bench players are less experienced. They’ll get the game experience they need by playing, but we can’t afford mental lapses. Each game so far we’ve had about a 5-minute mental lapse, and that can’t keep happening. If we can’t get into a rhythm defensively, we’re not going to get any easy looks offensively.”

On the Bearcats’ offensive play in the last two games:

“We’re doing a much better job taking care of the ball. It’s been exciting to see us put some solid minutes together. However, we’ve fallen behind early in games and it takes all our energy to get back into it. We can’t keep a run alive and get a lead back. We need to continue being more productive with our post play.”

On the impact of Kate Townley being out of the game with foul trouble against Columbia:

“When Kate plays well and takes care of the ball, she’s invaluable. She has lapses like all of us, but we need her to get into a rhythm offensively. We’re really missing Andrea Herold. She’s a very solid, back-up point guard who has the experience that comes with playing a lot of minutes. She is a great compliment to Kate, and not having her has hindered us at the backup point guard position.”

“Laura Scordino winds up being pressed into action at the point guard. We really think she’s been a better wing player but she’s stepped up and played some good minutes at the point.”