After suffering a 59-49 loss to UMass Lowell on Saturday, the Binghamton women’s basketball team was looking for a bounceback win in the rematch Sunday afternoon. With three seconds remaining in Sunday’s game, UMass Lowell head coach Tom Garrick called a timeout. Down by just three points, Garrick wanted to talk out the final play with his players but didn’t realize that the team had no timeouts remaining.
“[Assistant coach Nick Moore] lets me know how many timeouts I have and he told me that [UMass Lowell] had no more timeouts,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “I made sure the refs checked to make sure because this resulted in a technical foul which gave us free throws and the ball back.”
Shapiro Ord sent junior guard Hayley Moore to the free throw line and Binghamton retained possession of the ball in the final moments of the game, running out the clock, securing a 67-63 win and snapping UMass Lowell’s five game winning streak.
“It was such a great team effort and our kids just battled right from the tip,” Shapiro Ord said. “Basketball is a game of runs and we withstood every one of their runs. Everybody stepped up and it was such a great win today on the road. It was awesome.”
The Bearcats (4-8, 4-6 America East) led the River Hawks (8-5, 7-3 AE) for most of Sunday’s game, eventually going on a 13-point run. In the midst of the run, the Bearcats entered the fourth quarter trailing by five. Two minutes later, sophomore guard Denai Bowman hit a layup to give Binghamton a 55-54 lead, and the Bearcats held on for the remainder of the game. Bowman’s 20 points brought her season average to 13.3 points per game and making her the third-highest scorer in the America East (AE).
Sophomore forward Birna Benonysdottir was also a key contributor on both sides of the ball, who scored 18 points, captured two steals and recorded a block. Moore also played well by making three 3-pointers. Sophomore forward Clare Traeger scored six points while grabbing three rebounds and three steals.
For UMass Lowell, sophomore guard Jaliena Sanchez led the charge with 15 points, followed by senior forward Tiahna Sears with 12 points and junior guard Kharis Idom with 10 points.
Prior to Binghamton’s best offensive output of the season on Sunday, Saturday’s matchup only saw one Bearcat reach double digits in scoring. Additionally, Binghamton shot just 32.8 percent from the field on Saturday, which improved to 47.4 percent on Sunday. The Bearcats eventually lost 59-49 on Saturday. Junior forward Kathryn Kirkwood, a transfer from University of South Carolina Upstate, was the Bearcats’ leading scorer despite playing just nine minutes. In just the second game of her Binghamton career, Kirkwood scored 13 points and converted 5-of-7 field goals.
Last season, UMass Lowell and Binghamton also split their season series, and both teams advanced to the AE semifinals. The River Hawks have proved to be more potent this season, as they are currently in second place in the conference despite Binghamton snapping their winning streak. Binghamton currently sits in a tie for fifth.
After being swept by Stony Brook in Binghamton’s opening series, Sunday’s win marked the fourth straight weekend that the Bearcats have bounced back to win the second game of a series after dropping the opener.
“[Saturday] night after the [first] game, we had over half the team ask to watch film with our coaching staff,” Shapiro Ord said. “We did not require it at all. That is the type of team we have. They want to keep getting better each game.”
After splitting the series with UMass Lowell, Binghamton is set to take on Maine on Saturday, Jan. 23 and Sunday, Jan. 24. Tipoff for the first game is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.