Entering its first America East (AE) matchup of the season on the road against UMBC, senior guard Denai Bowman needed just three points to surpass the 1,000 collegiate career points mark. With four of her 19 points in the first quarter, Bowman was able to reach that milestone, but the Binghamton women’s basketball team ultimately fell to the Retrievers 73-69.

“It’s a great accomplishment to achieve,” Bowman wrote. “[I] would like to thank God, my family, my coaches and my teammates for continuing to push me in all sorts of ways to become the player I am today. With that being said, the job isn’t finished. We have a lot more work to do and a lot more games to play!”

After a 5-0 start run to start the game for UMBC (4-8, 1-0 AE), redshirt freshman guard Ella Wanzer hit a three-pointer to stop the bleeding. BU (7-7, 0-1 AE) eventually evened the score at five, but both teams continued to hit shots and were unable to build any significant advantages. Halfway through the first quarter Bowman hit her first shot of the game when she drove into the paint, stopped on a dime and hit a short-range jumper.

With two minutes left in the first quarter, Bowman drove down the right lane and was fouled, sending her to the free-throw line. Bowman secured both free throws, pushing her collegiate career point total past the 1,000-point mark. The senior finished the game with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. At the end of the quarter, the score was tied at 18.

“I thought it was awesome because she had like 90 fans and her family was there,” Shapiro Ord said. “The bench was really into it. That part was great, and it was on a free throw, so that was great for her.”

Sophomore forward Genevieve Coleman opened the second period by connecting on a shot from beyond the arc, giving Binghamton its first lead of the game. BU’s offense was hot, hitting its first five shots in the frame. However, UMBC did not let up, answering the visitor’s scoring with an efficient offense output of its own. Halfway through the quarter, the Bearcats found themselves up 30-29. Despite the narrow lead, Binghamton could not hold on as the hosts went on a 9-2 run to close out the first half with a 38-32 advantage.

“In the second quarter we kind of hit a lull,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “We were just not attacking. We need to get into the paint. When we got in the paint, good things happen. And we gave up too many second chance opportunities.”

The Bearcats came out of halftime looking to overcome their six-point deficit. Redshirt freshman guard Jadyn Weltz and Wanzer hit back-to-back three-pointers early to even the score at 38 apiece. Wanzer found her shot in the penultimate frame, hitting a mid-range jumper followed by a 3-pointer on the next BU possession. Both Weltz and Wanzer finished the game scoring in double digits with 11 and 14 points, respectively. At the end of the period, BU took the lead as it headed into the final quarter up 52-50.

“When we were running the floor, making the extra passes [and] sharing the basketball, I thought we did a good job,” Shapiro Ord said. “We can’t go back and forth. We have to string together some more stops, especially in the fourth quarter. But I thought we did a nice job with executing and really getting up and down the floor. We really pushed transition very well.”

After a back-and-forth start to the fourth quarter, the Retrievers tallied an 11-0 run to go up 65-56 less than four minutes into the frame. Binghamton found itself down 10 points with less than three minutes remaining, but strung together a quick 4-0 run. A Bowman jump shot cut the deficit to four points with 40 seconds left. On the next possession, the Bearcats stole the ball and Bowman hit another tough jumper to bring BU within two points with 19 seconds on the clock. Thanks to a missed free throw by UMBC, it was a one-possession game as the visitors were down by only three points with 16 seconds and the ball. Off the inbound pass, Weltz found herself with a good look at a 3-pointer but was unable to connect as Binghamton fell 73-69.

“The reason [UMBC] got that run was because we were trading baskets,” Shapiro Ord said. “We played some really good defense and then we weren’t cleaning up the paint … [UMBC] had 16 second chance [points] and that’s tough.”

BU will continue AE conference play at home against Bryant on Sunday, Jan. 1. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.