New faces shone and new roles were established as the Binghamton University women’s basketball team opened up its 2012-13 campaign with a 70-45 preseason victory over Mansfield University at the Events Center on Tuesday night.

“It was a good first win,” head coach Nicole Scholl said. “It was nice to get the kinks out in a live situation. Up until now we just had the one scrimmage so it was good to get out on the floor finally and start the season. Obviously, [there are] a lot of things for us to work on, but I thought we made some good adjustments in the second half and were finally able to build a little bit on our lead.”

Binghamton struggled out of the gates against Mansfield, falling behind 9-6 in the opening five minutes of play. But junior guard Stephanie Jensen, who scored the Bearcats’ first nine points, caught fire early on. She hit her third consecutive three-pointer with 14:42 left, tying the score at 9-9.

“I think I have to give credit to my teammates who were really good at finding me and having trust in me to make my shots,” Jensen said. “It’s all about confidence when you’re a shooter, so right now I’m just feeding off of them. As long as they keep giving me the ball, I’m going to keep shooting. “

Mansfield would score the next five points, but Binghamton would go on a 21-7 run from there to carry a 30-21 lead into halftime.

“We have to get used to coming out,” senior forward Kara Elofson said about the team’s performance early in the first half. “We had people who hadn’t started before so I think once we get used to it and once we get more confident, the first five minutes will be better.”

In the second half, the Bearcats looked more in rhythm and began piling it on against their Division II opponent. Binghamton went on a 13-5 run in the first six minutes of the half to extend its lead to 43-24. Freshman Kandace Newry, who finished with 11 points, had eight consecutive points during that stretch, including two three-pointers.

While BU managed just 30 points in the first half on 31.4 percent shooting, the Bearcats netted 40 points in the second on 48.5 percent shooting.

“We have a lot of new players, five new freshmen, so I feel like it was a little bit of nerves, it was a little bit of excitement,” junior guard Jasbriell Swain said about her team’s shaky start. “And I feel like after we got past that first half, the second half we did a whole lot better.”

Jensen finished with 14 points, including four three-pointers. Swain also had 14 points in addition to nine rebounds and eight steals. Elofson chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds, while freshman forward Morgan Murphy finished with five points on 2-6 shooting.

Without their top three scorers from last season, much of the Bearcats’ offensive responsibilities fall on the shoulders of Swain, who finished fourth on the team in scoring last year. But Swain cited Jensen’s performance on Tuesday as an example of how different players on the team are capable of stepping up and filling the roles that departing players left empty.

“We have a lot of different things to offer,” Swain said. “We can’t really be those exact people that our seniors were last year, but I feel like everybody’s coming together as a unit and trying to fill those shoes and be a better team. It’s not just about one person; it’s about the whole team.”

The Bearcats are set to begin their regular season against St. Bonaventure University at 1 p.m. this Saturday at the Reilly Center.