Amid a five-game losing streak in America East conference play, the Binghamton women’s basketball team flipped the script on Thursday evening defeating UMass Lowell 65-52 on the road. However, BU could not keep the momentum going, dropping a close one 68-62 against Bryant on Saturday.

“I felt that every time UMass Lowell made a run, we responded very well,” said Binghamton head coach Mary Grimes. “They play for 40 minutes and give it everything they got, but we were able to withstand that today.”

Binghamton (12-12, 4-7 AE) came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, scoring 22 points in the first quarter off 7-of-13 shooting from the field. Junior guard Kaia Goode added nine points while the Bearcats’ defense held UMass Lowell (3-19, 1-9 AE) to just 11 points in the quarter and 30 percent shooting.

The Bearcats cooled down in the second quarter and were outscored narrowly, 13-10. The River Hawks were able to take advantage of BU’s sloppiness with the ball as they scored seven points off turnovers in the period. Still, going into halftime, Binghamton maintained a 32-24 lead.

Coming out of halftime, both teams went basket for basket, each notching 17 points in the quarter. While at times, it seemed as if UMass Lowell was going to make a comeback, timely Bearcat baskets killed any momentum. While it was still anyone’s game, BU held their eight-point lead going into the final period.

BU was able to pull away in the fourth quarter to establish its lead and put UMass Lowell away. Back-to-back three-pointers from Goode and sophomore guard Leah Middleton cemented the BU advantage at 12 as the visiting Bearcats fended off the River Hawks from there, and Binghamton ran away with a 65-52 victory.

Goode led all scorers with 16 points alongside five rebounds and four assists. Middleton had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and filled up the rest of the stat sheet, dishing out five assists and grabbing four steals.

On Saturday, Binghamton battled Bryant in a relatively high-scoring affair, with both teams shooting above 45 percent from the field in the contest. After a slow start for the Bearcats in the first with Bryant dominating the paint early on, they picked things up in the second quarter, ending the half on an 8-2 run, trailing just 29-25 at the half.

“I’m super proud of my team,” Grimes said. “They fought. We never held our heads, which I think in the past we’ve done. That’s why we were able to come back and make this a six-point game in the end.”

Things picked up in the second half with both teams seemingly refusing to miss a shot. BU drained 7-of-11 from the field in the period and made 3-of-4 from three-point range while Bryant shot 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the perimeter. The visitors, however, were unable to close the deficit, as the Bulldogs held an eight-point lead going into the fourth.

BU’s defense clawed down in the fourth, holding Bryant to just four field goals off 15 tries. Despite this, the Bulldogs, earned 10 trips to the charity stripe, making seven of them, allowing them to maintain their advantage. Ultimately, while the Bearcats kept things close, their comeback fell short as they suffered a 68-62 loss.

Sophomore guard Bella Pucci led the Bearcats with 17 points alongside five rebounds. As a team, Binghamton had eight steals and scored 13 points off turnovers. In the rebounding department, the Bearcats were out-rebounded 40-28, which made the difference in the game.

Binghamton will return home on Feb. 13 to take on UMBC as it enters the final stretch of its conference slate. Tipoff is set for 6:07 p.m. at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.