Coming off wins against UMass Lowell and New Hampshire respectively, the Binghamton women’s basketball team’s two game win streak came to an end on Saturday with a 59-56 loss to Maine at the Events Center. After a commanding first-half performance by the Bearcats, they were unable to maintain their lead in the second half as they sustained their fifth loss in America East (AE) play.

“I was proud of our fight,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “The girls worked really, really hard. We have to stay locked in on defense. [However], we gave them 15 second-chance opportunities, and you can’t do that — not against a really good Maine team.”

Binghamton (7-13, 2-5 AE) opened the first period with the hot hand — nailing its first four shot attempts to jump out to an early 10-2 lead over Maine (13-8, 6-1 AE). Notable baskets came from sophomore guard/forward Camryn Fauria, who laid the ball in for the first score of the game. Not long after, redshirt sophomore guard Ella Wanzer drained a three-pointer to extend Binghamton’s lead to five. At the halfway mark in the period — after a couple Binghamton turnovers — the Black Bears went on a 10-0 run and took their first lead of the game at 12-10. However, thanks to a late three-pointer by junior forward Genevieve Coleman, Binghamton held a 13-12 lead going into the second period.

“I loved our energy and our effort in the first half,” Shapiro Ord said. “I thought we were tremendous. We came out with lots of energy and lots of fire.”

The story of the second quarter was Binghamton’s defense. The Bearcats held Maine to six points and 18.2 percent shooting percentage from the field in the period. On the offensive side for the Bearcats, freshman guard Bella Pucci opened the period for Binghamton by sinking a three-pointer from the corner. Graduate student guard Denai Bowman followed by converting a close-range jumper. Down the stretch, Binghamton opened a solid lead with baskets from Fauria and sophomore guard Meghan Casey. Then, Wanzer floated one in as the shot clock expired — erupting the arena and giving the Bearcats a 28-18 heading into halftime.

“Anytime you have a couple of players that can score, it’s great because if they stop you outside game, [and] then you got the inside going,” Shapiro Ord said. “That’s pretty much what we’ve been about. They covered up [Wanzer] pretty good … but [Bowman] going to the basket and attacking opened [up our scoring].”

Maine came out after halftime and controlled the third period. Binghamton only scored five points in the period — a layup from Bowman, a pair of free throws by redshirt sophomore Jadyn Weltz and a free throw by freshman forward Kendall Bennett — while Maine put 17 points on the board. The Bearcats were outpaced as they shot just 12.5 percent from the field in the third period while giving up five turnovers compared to Maine’s one. At the end of the third period, Maine led 35-33.

“You knew [Maine] would come out swinging, but I didn’t know they were coming out swinging like they did,” Shapiro Ord said. “[Maine] came back in the second half and really locked in on defense, and they did a really good job. Unfortunately, we weren’t getting those open looks that we were getting in the first half.”

Following a Maine three-pointer to begin the fourth period, Weltz answered with a three-pointer of her own. After a scary blow to the head, Bowman returned to the game and caught fire — scoring seven points in the fourth quarter. Despite this, Maine continued to apply pressure, extending its lead to 10 points with three minutes left. Late in the period, freshman guard Kaylee Krysztof knocked down a three-pointer with eight seconds left to make it a three-point game. However, Binghamton’s comeback efforts were too little too late. The Black Bears iced the game with free throws as the Bearcats fell 59-56.

“[Bowman] has just been gutting it out,” Shapiro Ord said. “Every game, she’s getting nailed and hit. Her explosiveness to the basket is just incredible — she’s doing a great job.”

Bowman and Weltz led the team in scoring and steals with 14 points and three steals each. Coleman finished with six points and four rebounds. Weltz and Bennett led in rebounds with five each. Lastly, Wanzer, Fauria and Pucci chipped in with five points each.

“We’ve got to stay locked in [moving forward], and we’ve got to play four quarters,” Shapiro Ord said.

Binghamton will continue AE play on Thursday, Feb. 1 on the road against NJIT. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Wellness and Events (WEC) Center in Newark, New Jersey.