Coming off an impressive win against the University at Albany, the Black Bears sought to put together a mini-winning streak against the Binghamton Bearcats, but were unable to put on any type of offensive performance, falling 58-52. The Black Bears’ overall record dropped to 11-12 on the season, while Binghamton improved to 10-11.
First-year guard Blanca Millan opened the scoring in the contest with a layup, which was followed by a jumper from Binghamton’s first-year guard Kai Moon. First-year forward Anita Kelava had a layup of her own before both teams went on a string of consecutive missed shots for almost four minutes of game clock.
Moon added a three-pointer and second-year guard Rebecca Carmody contributed four points for the Bearcats in the opening frame. Millan led Maine with four points, which led 10-9 after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw a mix of scoring from ten different players; five from each team. First-year guard Carly Boland led the way with six points for the Bearcats and Millan added five more for her game-leading nine points.
Redshirt second-year guard Tanesha Sutton made two shots for four points, while fourth-year forward Sheraton Jones, first-year guard Julie Brosseau and first-year forward Laia Sole each had a bucket.
Others to score for Binghamton were Moon, redshirt second-year guard Jasmine Sina, fourth-year forward Kristin Ross and third-year guard Imani Watkins. Maine held onto a one point lead at halftime, 25-24.
The Black Bears turned it on in the third quarter with a flurry of three-pointers. Millan opened the second half by hitting one, followed by fourth-year guard Sigi Koizar and Brosseau supplying deep shots of their own.
Binghamton spread out their scoring, as Ross and third-year forward Alyssa James each had four points. Moon and Watkins added three a piece and Carmody had a bucket.
An impressive individual effort from Koizar kept the Black Bears in the game, as she led all players with 10 points in the third quarter. She totaled 14 for the contest, of which all came in the second half and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the lead back to Maine, 42-40 after three quarters of play.
The fourth quarter featured a similar role from Watkins that Koizar had in the previous quarter, as she contributed 12 points for the Bearcats. She hit a clutch shot from beyond the arc with 2:29 left, giving Binghamton a lead that they never relinquished.
Maine couldn’t come up with the big shots when they needed them most. Sole, Brosseau and Jones each had two points and Koizar netted four. Others to score for the Bearcats were James with three, Moon with two and first-year guard Bailey Williams with one.
Overall, the leading scorer was Watkins with 17 points, followed by Koizar with 14, Moon with 13 and Millan with 12. Both teams shot under 40 percent, which contributed to the low-scoring affair.
Maine returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at home with tipoff set for 7 p.m. against the University of Vermont. Binghamton University plays next on Wednesday, Feb. 1 on the road at 7 p.m. against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC).
