BANGOR- On a day that the University of Maine womens basketball team were honoring seniors Sheraton Jones and Sigi Koizar, Maine also picked up a win on the last day of the regular season with a 62-49 America East victory over Binghamton at the Cross Insurance Center.
Both teams started 1-13 from the field in the first five minutes of the first quarter. Maine held an 8-0 lead, before Binghamton scored their first basket of the game with 2:30 left. Maine held an 8-5 lead after the first quarter.
Maine would extend the lead in the second quarter, after Binghamton took a brief two point lead. Maine would then run off 12 straight points to make it 20-10. Maine would go in to halftime with a 31-17 lead.
The Black Bears continued to stay in the lead in the third quarter. Binghamton got within nine though after three at 42-33.
Binghamton made one more run in the fourth quarter, getting within 44-40, but a Koizar three-pointer gave Maine back a seven point lead. It started a 10-2 run to give Maine a 12 point lead, and Binghamton never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Tenesha Sutton had a career-high 18 points to lead Maine. Sutton added six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Koizar finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Maine finishes the regular season at 16-15 overall, and 9-7 in America East.
Imani Watkins led Binghamton with 15 points and nine rebounds. Rebecca Carmody added 13 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Binghamton finishes at 13-16, 8-8.
“Really proud of the girls, good win. It’s a good win for us, Binghamton had been playing really well lately, had a big win over Hartford the other day. We had a good week of practice and some time to really work on things. I was really proud of our defensive intensity that the team came out with. They really executed the game plan, and that’s always nice to see. We didn’t shoot the ball great, but we still won by 13. So when you don’t shoot the ball great, and you can still win by double digits that’s always good”, said Maine interim coach Amy Vachon.
Maine now heads to the America East Conference Tournament being held at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland next Saturday and Sunday, where they will see this same Bearcats team again. Maine will be the #4 seed and will play #5 Binghamton in the quarterfinal round on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
