Call it the pressure of being away from home. The crazy Boston fans, the horrible clash of red and white, the caricatures of grilling mutts on shirts and banners — it just was not the “BU” the Binghamton University women’s basketball team was used to playing in.

The Bearcats collapsed under the pressure from the Boston University Terriers Wednesday, dropping the decision 82-75. The loss knocks the team down to fifth in the America East Conference and drops their road record to a depressing 1-11.

“It was a huge conference game,” said Binghamton head coach Rich Conover. “I thought we played hard, but there were a lot of defensive lapses.”

The Bearcats (7-15, 5-4 AE) had an 11-point lead over the Terriers (13-10, 6-4) well into the first half, building a 25-14 lead with eight minutes remaining. But then Boston bit back.

The Terriers went on an 18-7 blitz, penetrating into the Bearcats’ defense to tie the score at 32. Senior Laura Sario placed in a shot from beyond the arc with a minute remaining in the half, but junior Terrier Jesyka Burks-Wiley responded back with her own 3-pointer retying 35-35.

With 25 seconds left and Binghamton in possession of the ball, it looked like the Bearcats would take the first half, but a steal that ended in a layup by junior Terrier Christine Kinneary ended the half in favor of Boston 37-35.

The Bearcats continued to crumble in the second half as the team turned the ball over to Boston on six straight possessions at one point. The turnovers gave Boston the advantage and allowed the team to widen their lead as far as 12 points with seven minutes to go in the game.

Something clicked after that, because the Bearcats came back in the next five minutes, closing the gap to two points and forcing Boston to call timeout. Scores were contributed from five Bearcats including freshman Jackie Ward, sophomore Erica Carter and seniors Laura Sario and Laine Kurpniece.

Still, the Terriers kept the lead, never letting the Bearcats get closer than three points. The Bearcats tried to keep it up, but Boston kept putting points in the basket. Terrier junior Amara Umez-Eronini ended the game with a shot at the buzzer sealing the Boston victory.

Conover said he was happy about how hard his team hustled in the game.

“We were very sharp defensively,” he said. “But we pushed hard to come back again in the second half. Now, it’s a matter of [playing hard] all throughout the game.”

The Bearcats made over 46 percent of their shots against the other BU, and also had a total of 34 rebounds. Kurpniece placed the both the game and season high 25 points and 11 rebounds while both Sario and Carter added 13 points. Laura Sario has now reached the 1,000 point mark of her career, the 11th player to do so in school history.

Defending champs come to Events Center: The UMBC Retrievers (8-15, 4-6) head to the Events Center for a Saturday afternoon showdown this weekend. Last March the Retrievers, as a No. 7 seed, shocked the conference and won the America East tournament in Binghamton. Defending the title has been tough for UMBC, which currently sits in sixth place in the conference. Binghamton defeated UMBC 65-58 in Baltimore on Jan. 16. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.