After downing UMBC 62-45 at the Events Center on Saturday’s Senior Day, the Binghamton women’s basketball team has locked up the No. 7 seed for the America East tournament. The Bearcats (6-23, 5-11 America East) have won two of their past three games.
“It was a great win, and [I’m] just really happy and proud of our players, especially our three seniors,” BU head coach Nicole Scholl said.
“[It was a] nice way on our home floor to go out before the tournament,” she added.
Freshman forward Morgan Murphy finished with a game-high 14 points, scoring seven points and picking up three rebounds and an assist all in the second half.
“I felt like there was a mismatch, they had some smaller girls playing, and I was able to take advantage of that,” Murphy said. “My teammates got me the ball, and as an offense there was a lot of balance. [Senior guard Mallory Lawes] was shooting great, [junior guard Stephanie Jensen] was shooting great, we were scoring on the inside. When there’s a lot of balance on offense, it makes things easier.”
Lawes finished her last home game at Binghamton with a career-high 13 points, and said she was happy with the outcome of the game and her time at Binghamton.
“It’s been amazing,” she said. “There have been bumps and bruises, literally and figuratively, but Binghamton has been a great time for me to develop myself as a person and ball player, and I’ve loved it here. I can’t ask for a better senior night. This was great tonight, and you could feel the energy in the place, and it was awesome.”
The game opened with junior guard Jasbriell Swain stealing the ball from UMBC senior guard Raven Harris, who is averaging 15.5 points per conference game. That set the tone, as Harris was held to just eight points, and the rest of the Retrievers shot a mere 14-for-41 for the game.
Scholl attributed Harris’ 4-for-18 shooting night to “Jas Swain and team defense.”
The Bearcats out-performed UMBC (10-19, 6-10 AE) in both rebounds and steals, while also converting more second-chance attempts.
Additionally, Binghamton shot 55 percent from the charity stripe, while UMBC shot a dismal 38.1 percent.
Despite only leading by four at halftime, the Bearcats were able to pull away during the second half, scoring 12 in a row as they forced more turnovers and played better defense.
“One big piece that has changed is the cohesion with this group, and they just read each other much better,” Scholl said on her team’s development this season. “[Against UMBC] there was a lot of unselfish play, and we did a good job of distributing the basketball and taking advantages of the mismatches that we had.”
Slated as the No. 7 seed, the Bearcats are set to play against No. 2 seed Hartford in the quarterfinal round of the America East tournament on Friday.
“We’re obviously excited for this Friday, and I think we’re headed in the right direction winning the last two out of three,” Scholl said. “Hartford is a tough matchup, but when it comes to tournament matchups, as we all saw last year, anything can happen.”
Last season, No. 5 seeded UMBC reached the title game before falling to No. 2-seeded Albany 69-61.
Binghamton’s matchup against Hartford, which will be broadcast by ESPN3, is scheduled for noon at Albany’s SEFCU Arena.