VESTAL, N.Y. – Despite rallying from 19 points down to tie the game, Binghamton (1-4) was defeated by Sacred Heart 77-69 in a non-conference women's basketball game on Wednesday afternoon at the Events Center. The game came against the preseason pick to win the Northeast Conference (NEC).
 
Junior guard Imani Watkins scored a team-high 23 points and in the process, became the 15th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career. She is also just the fifth Binghamton player to accomplish that feat in her junior season. It was a layup with 38 seconds left in the second period against the Pioneers that vaulted her over the milestone. Watkins is the first Bearcat to reach the 1,000-point mark since Viive Rebane against St. Peter's on Dec. 29, 2011.
 
Watkins, who is now averaging a team-best 22.2 points per game, also reached the 20-point mark for the third consecutive game. The last time a Binghamton player accomplished that feat came when Rachel Laws had four straight 20-point games from Dec. 7-30, 2004.
 
Three other Binghamton players reached double figures in scoring as it recorded its highest team point total of the season. Sophomore guard Jasmine Sina added 16 points, freshman guard Kai Moon had 13 points and junior center Alyssa James finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. It marked James' first double-double of the season the ninth of her career.
 
In the early going, Sacred Heart appeared to be running away with the victory, leading by as much as 36-17 with 7:08 left to go in the second period. The Bearcats, however, came all the way back to tie the score at 51-51 on a pair of free throws by Moon with 4:25 left in the third period.
 
Binghamton went on to knot the game at 53-53 and 56-56 but was unable to take the lead. The Pioneers, meanwhile, went on a crucial 9-3 spurt to go up 72-65 with 2:12 left in regulation.
 
Hannah Kimmel, the reigning NEC Player of the Year, poured in a game-high 30 points. She also added 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a pair of steals. Teammate Adaysha Williams added 22 points while Erin Storck chipped in 15 points.
 
Sacred Heart shot 50.9 percent from the field, hitting 29 of its 57 shots. Binghamton, by contrast, shot only 30 percent, making 21 of its 70 attempts.

"I am very proud of the way our team came back today," head coach Linda Cimino said. "Sacred Heart is a very good team and Hannah Kimmel is an outstanding player. We didn't shoot the ball well today and they were able to score a lot of baskets in transition."
 
At the free throw line, however, Binghamton was 19-of-20 (95.0 percent). That is the fourth-highest, single-game percentage in program history. Three times, the Bearcats have shot 1.000 with the most recent instance being a 7-for-7 performance against Vermont on Jan. 22, 2008.
 
The Bearcats also finished with a 42-39 rebound advantage against Sacred Heart. In addition to James, sophomore forward Rebecca Carmody grabbed nine rebounds and freshman center Payton Husson had a career-best six rebounds in nine minutes on the floor.
 
Binghamton stays at home to face Brown on Sunday at 1 p.m. Watkins will be honored during a pregame ceremony for reaching the 1,000-point mark.

NOTES: Watkins now has 1,014 points and remains in 15th place all-time in Binghamton program history. Helene Thomas (1981-85) is in 14th place with 1,018 points and Jen Blues (2002-06) is in 13th place with 1,019 points .... Watkins now has 19 career games with at least 20 points ... Sina has 106 career three-point field goals and is now 10th all-time in program history. Against Sacred Heart, she surpassed Emily Szewczyk (1998-02), who finished her career with 105 treys. In ninth place is Orla O'Reilly (2008-12) with 109 three-point field goals.