CEDAR CITY, Utah –Binghamton (3-1) had four players reach double figures in scoring, highlighting its 72-66 win over Southern Utah (0-3) in a non-conference women's basketball game on Saturday night at America First Credit Union Arena. With the victory, the Bearcats are off to their best four-game start since also going 3-1 to start the 2011-12 season.

Senior guard Imani Watkins led the balanced attack with a game-high 19 points. In the process, she raised her career scoring total to 1,553 points. Watkins is now just four points away from tying Andrea Holmes (2008-12) for third place all time in program history – which represents the highest career total during Binghamton's 17-year NCAA Division I era.

Sophomore guard Kai Moon finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Junior forward Rebecca Carmody posted 12 points, eight rebounds and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

Senior center Alyssa James, meanwhile, had 12 points, nine rebounds, a game-high five blocks and a pair of steals. James now has 181 career blocks and remains in third place all time in Binghamton program history.

Binghamton trailed 18-11 after one period but reeled off 28 points in the second period to go up 39-36 at the break. Moon hit the go-ahead three-point field goal right before the half.
In the third period, the Bearcats used a 10-3 run to go up 49-43 with 5:04 remaining. James had six of her points during that stretch.

The Bearcats appeared to be in command when sophomore guard Carly Boland nailed a three-point field goal, padding the lead to 65-54 with 6:02 left in regulation. From there, however, Southern Utah used a 7-0 spurt over the ensuing 2:18 to pull within 65-61.

After a scoreless two minutes, Binghamton iced the game with a 7-2 run to go up 72-63 with 36 seconds left to go. Watkins, Moon, Carmody and James all had at least a point during that span.

"I thought tonight was a total team effort," head coach Linda Cimino said. "We had balanced scoring and our defense won us the game in the second half. Southern Utah is a really scrappy team with some great guards. We made some miscues but we were able to settle down and make some big shots."

Kiana Johnson and Whitney Johnson each had a team-high 11 points for the Thunderbirds. Breanu Reid added 10 points.

As a team, Binghamton shot a season-best .938 from the free throw line, hitting 15 of its 16 attempts.

Boland finished with six points, five rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal. Senior guard Jasmine Sina had eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore guard Karlee Krchnavi also blocked a pair of shots and had two steals.

Binghamton now heads for the Great Alaska Shootout, which begins on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. EST against Tulsa. Also competing in the 40th annual event is Maryland-Eastern Shore (UMES) and host Alaska-Anchorage.

NOTES: Holmes was a senior on the 2011-12 team that also started out 3-0 … Watkins has reached double figures in scoring in all four games this season. Carmody has scored in double figures two straight games … James now has 13 career games with five or more blocks.