Heading into the America East tournament, the Binghamton women’s basketball team appears to face extreme disadvantages. The Bearcats (4-25, 2-14 AE) won just two conference games all season, have lost 13 consecutive contests and carry the eight seed into postseason play. However, BU does have one big advantage — a home floor.

“It’s such a great advantage having home court,” freshman guard Jasmine Sina said. “I think having the crowd behind us, we’re going to have a lot of fans and a lot of support behind our backs. That makes such a difference playing the game, having that extra adrenaline rush from the crowd.”

Unlike the men’s tournament — which changed its structure this year — the women’s postseason will continue to be held in a single location until the final round. This means that even though BU finished last in the America East and is technically the visitor in Saturday’s matchup, the team will play its playoff game against first-seeded Maine (22-7, 14-2 AE) in the Events Center.

“We are really excited to host the America East tournament,” BU head coach Linda Cimino said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for our school, our athletic department and our community in general. I know that Binghamton as a community is going to come out and support us and we are really looking forward to it.”

While Binghamton has struggled overall this season, its play has been much better at home than on the road. Three of BU’s wins this season came on its home court, while the team lost all 15 of its true road contests.

Playing in front of a friendly crowd should only increase the Bearcats’ shot at an upset of Maine, which has captured 22 victories this season and beat BU twice during regular-season play. In the first meeting in Orono on Jan. 19, the Black Bears held the Bearcats to just a 36 percent shooting clip from the field en route to a 70-48 victory. On Feb. 21 in the Events Center, Maine jumped all over BU in the first half to capture a 70-56 win. Despite falling by a combined 36 points to its upcoming opponent, Binghamton feels confident in its upset chances.

“I think it’s anybody’s game this year,” Cimino said. “We are fortunate enough to be playing Maine — I think we match up well with Maine and the last time we played them, we played them even in the second half.”

BU must focus its gameplan around Maine junior forward Liz Wood. Wood, a likely First-Team All-Conference player this season, finished sixth in the AE in scoring with 14.2 points per game and fifth in rebounding with 7.3 boards per game. The junior torched the Bearcats in their previous two matchups, putting up 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first contest followed by a 17 and 10 performance at the Events Center.

The Bearcats will also need to find scoring outside of its backcourt of Sina and freshman guard Imani Watkins. Sina, who averaged 14.7 points per game during the regular season, and Watkins, who averaged 13.4, have carried most of the scoring load for BU this season. But Binghamton will need help inside from senior forward Sherae Swinson as well as outside with shooting from senior guard Gintare Surdokaite. Surdokaite — who entered the season having never scored more than eight points in a game — has eclipsed that figure five times this year.

“[Surdokaite] is playing her best basketball in four years right now and we are really fortunate for that and [to have] Sherae,” Cimino said. “Those kids are excited. They are sick of losing and they want to win and they’re leading us.”

Tip-off of the quarterfinal game between Binghamton and Maine is scheduled for noon Saturday in the Events Center. The victor of that contest will then face the winner of the game between fourth-seeded New Hampshire and fifth-seeded Hartford on Sunday.

While the Bearcats may enter the tournament with the eight seed, inside the locker room, they believe that anything can happen.

“[In] March Madness, upsets happen all the time,” Swinson said. “We just have to come in with confidence on Saturday and be ready to play basketball.”