Box Score (PDF)VESTAL, N.Y. – Liz Wood finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals, leading top-seeded Maine (23-7) to a 78-71 win over host Binghamton (4-26) in an America East women's basketball quarterfinal game on Saturday afternoon at the Events Center. The game marked the first time that Binghamton has hosted the conference tournament since 2007.
Despite entering the tournament as the No. 8 seed, Binghamton put up an impressive effort against the Black Bears. Freshman point guard
Jasmine Sina matched Wood with a game-high 19 points while fellow rookie guard
Imani Watkins finished with 17 points and six assists.
Senior forward
Sherae Swinson closed out her career with 12 points and three rebounds against Maine. In the process, she finished with 985 career points, which ranks No. 16 all time in program history.
Junior guard
Kim Albrecht added 10 points while junior guard
Gintare Surdokaite drained three shots from beyond the arc to finish with nine points.
The 71 points, which came against the top defensive team in the America East, represents the second-most points Binghamton has scored in an America East Tournament game. Their best output came in a 72-66 overtime win against UMBC on March 10, 2006.
"I am really proud of how our team competed today," head coach
Linda Cimino said. "We had a game plan and stuck with it all the way. Maine is a very good team but I thought we played with a lot of heart and energy."
Maine raced out to a 15-8 lead in the opening five minutes and were up by as much as 29-16 with 5:54 left in the first half. Binghamton, however, came storming back to get to within 34-32 at the break.
In the second half, the Black Bears appeared to take control of the game as they went up 63-50 with 9:32 remaining in regulation. Binghamton, however, refused to go quietly, pulling to within 72-67 with 2:01 left to go.
Neither team scored in the ensuing minute of play but the Blacks Bears were a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 42 seconds to seal the win.
Mikaela Gustafsson added 17 points for Maine while Bella Swan added 15 points and Sigi Koizar chipped in 14 points.
NOTES: Sina, who was named the America East Rookie of the Year on Friday evening, finished her freshman campaign with 14.8 points per game. That is the highest single-season scoring average by a Binghamton player since Sarah Cartmill and current assistant coach
Leah Truncale averaged 18.4 and 15.3 points respectively during the 2001-02 season … Watkins, who joined Sina on the America East All-Rookie Team, finished her freshman season with 13.5 points per game.
