On Feb. 26, the America East (AE) released its all-conference selections for women’s basketball and sophomore guard Denai Bowman was named to both the first-team all-conference and all-defensive team. She is just the second Binghamton women’s basketball underclassman to be named to the first-team all-conference.

“I was overjoyed,” Bowman said. “I was surprised, but it felt like a great accomplishment. I do believe that my hard work did pay off, but I have my team and my coaches to thank for that because I wouldn’t have gotten that award without them.”

After the season was suspended early due to COVID-19 protocols, Bowman finished her sophomore year ranked fourth in the AE in both scoring and steals, averaging 12.9 points and 2.0 steals per game. Last season, she averaged 6.6 points and .9 steals per game. Bowman almost doubled her scoring average in just one year. She attributes her increased success to spending her free time in the gym and stepping into a leadership role.

“I just stayed in the gym, working on things I didn’t work on the previous year and things that I thought I needed to work on,” Bowman said. “Also, I really needed to step into that leadership role because we did lose a lot of leaders, so it gave me that courage and momentum to do more for my team.”

One of the leaders that the Bearcats lost to graduation was guard Kai Moon, who was last year’s AE Player of the Year. Moon was also named to the first-team all-conference and the all-defensive team in 2020. Just a sophomore, Bowman is following in Moon’s footsteps, as she already has two of these accolades to her name.

“It’s great to just be thought of on that level — I hold [Moon] very highly,” Bowman said. “She definitely played a big role in how I developed throughout the season. She was always texting me before and after every game, so just to get those same awards that she got means a lot to me and I definitely think it raised my confidence level.”

As Moon and guards Carly Boland and Karlee Krchnavi were lost to graduation in 2020, the Bearcats had just one senior on the active roster this season, forward Kaylee Wasco, to help Bowman lead the team. Wasco was also honored by the AE, as she was named to the all-academic team with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

“[Wasco] definitely did a great job of leading the team as well,” Bowman said. “She really spoke up in practice. She taught me how to communicate and deliver a message to certain people because everyone doesn’t receive the same message in the same way. She really shaped me into a better leader.”

Bowman was on a roll when the season was canceled due to “late-season positive test results and subsequent quarantine requirements,” as she just had one of the best games of her career. Up against Albany’s Great Danes on Feb. 7, Bowman scored 21 points, secured a career-high 13 rebounds and garnered four steals.

“I was a little disappointed [when the season got canceled] but at the same time we’re living in very hard times, so I kind of had to accept it quickly and roll with the punches,” Bowman said. “How I got through it was having that mindset of ‘OK, now I have more time to work in the postseason for next year.’”

The young team ended the season with a 5-11 overall record and a 5-9 conference record, but the Bearcats will only lose Wasco to graduation and four out of five starters will return to the court next season.

“I want to continue to grow with my team, becoming more of a vocal leader, hopefully getting more awards and getting my teammates some accolades,” Bowman said.