After seven months of preparation under a new coach, the Binghamton women’s basketball team opened its season with a commanding 79-34 win over Pitt-Johnstown on Monday night. The Bearcats never trailed in the contest, holding the Mountain Cats to a 23.5 percent shooting percentage and earning their first victory in the Mary Grimes era.

“I think it really showed tonight that they were excited to be in the arena,” Grimes said. “It was an unbelievable effort all around.”

Binghamton (1-0) opened the first quarter on a 13-0 run, which began with sophomore guard Yanniah Boyd draining two free throws for BU’s first points of the season. This run also included the first points as a Bearcat for junior guard Kaia Goode — off a three-pointer. After being held scoreless for nearly six minutes, Pitt-Johnston (0-1) ended its scoring drought with two consecutive three-pointers to make it a 13-6 game. Boyd drained another free throw to make it a 14-6 game at the end of quarter one.

“It was kind of surreal,” Goode said. “I was a little nervous but I was definitely excited to get out there and play with this team. We’ve been working for a really long time and to get out here and have our first game and get a win — it was great.”

Starting the second period in a 2-2-1 press, BU went on a 7-1 run that was capped off by a three-pointer by senior forward Genevieve Coleman to make it 21-7. The Bearcats offense continued to outpace the Mountain Cats, going up 32-11, courtesy of a steal and score from redshirt junior guard Jadyn Weltz. Neither team shot particularly well with Binghamton and Pitt-Johnson shooting 33 and 24 percent from the field respectively, but the hosts took a 36-17 lead going into the half.

“[Defense] was a big focus for us tonight,” Weltz said. “We’ve been working on it all week and we really wanted to hone in on that. It’s only going to build from here.”

After halftime, the Bearcats continued to extend their lead, doubling the Mountain Cats’ point total at 42-21 after sophomore guard Bella Pucci beat her defender for a layup. Pucci’s layup kicked off a 15-0 run, allowing Binghamton to extend its lead to 32. BU shot 50 percent from the field in the quarter taking a 58-26 lead going into the fourth.

“We talked about not rushing up to the high post in the zone and not allowing middle drives, and we executed that very well,” Grimes said. “We had a goal and we hit our goal. To hold them to 34 points was just unbelievable.”

The fourth quarter saw more of the same as BU outscored Pitt-Johnstown 16-5 to take a 43-point lead at 74-31. A layup in the final moments of the game from Pucci capped off a 79-34 win for Binghamton in its home opener.

“I think everybody played within themselves,” Grimes said. “I’m happy with that. It’s a team effort, it’s going to be really hard to defend if multiple people can score and we did that tonight.”

Weltz and Goode led the way for the Bearcats, filling up the stat sheet. Weltz led BU with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists while Goode chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.

“It’s been seven months of just practice and preparation,” Weltz said. “Tonight I think we all just stepped out there and we were ready to go. No hesitation, no holding back, just like coach said — staying within ourselves and doing what we do best.”

With a quick turnaround, Binghamton will take on Akron on Thursday, Nov. 7. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court in the Events Center in Vestal, New York.