The University of Maine women’s basketball team used a 7-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to build a 10-point lead and Binghamton couldn’t get any closer than six the rest of the way as the third-seeded Black Bears earned a 64-54 win over the sixth-seeded Bearcats in their America East quarterfinal on Wednesday at the Memorial Gym.
Anne Simon poured in a game-high 24 points for 16-13 UMaine and also grabbed nine rebounds. League Player of the Year Adi Smith had 13 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and Olivia Rockwood had 11 points off the bench.
Genevieve Coleman and Denai Bowman had 16 points each for 13-17 Binghamton and Jadyn Weltz had 14.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Simon and Rockwood at the end of the third period gave UMaine a 46-41 lead entering the fourth period, the largest lead for either team.
The first half was a see-saw affair in which neither team was able to build more than a four-point lead.
UMaine led 14-10 on Simon’s 3-pointer to close out the first period.
But the Bearcats followed with a 7-0 run to take a 17-14 lead before UMaine finished the half outscoring Binghamton 11-7 to take a one-point lead into the break.
Simon had seven first-half points and Paula Gallego and Caroline Bornemann had five apiece but Smith was held to four points as Coleman did a nice job defending her in the paint.
Bowman’s 10 points, Weltz’s six and Ella Wanzer’s five paced the Bearcats.
Neither team shot the ball well in the first half and UMaine turned the ball over 11 times.
UMaine shot 34.6 percent from the floor and 30 percent beyond the 3-point arc while Binghamton shot 37.6 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively.
Binghamton scored 13 points off turnovers while UMaine only had five as Binghamton turned the ball over just five times.
Binghamton also outscored UMaine in the paint 16-8.
