VESTAL, N.Y. – Brittni Lai hit the winning layup with two seconds left in regulation, leading New Hampshire (11-5, 2-1 AE) to a 63-61 victory over Binghamton (10-5, 1-1 AE) in an America East women's basketball game on Wednesday night at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The loss snapped the Bearcats' season-high, six-game winning streak.
Senior guard
Imani Watkins led the Bearcats with 20 points. It marked the fifth straight game she has reached the 20-point mark. In addition, it pushed her career scoring total to 1,783 points, which now ranks No. 16 all time in America East program history. Watkins remains in third place all time in Binghamton program history.
Sophomore guard
Kai Moon finished with 16 points while senior center
Alyssa James added 12 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and three steals. In the process, James raised her career block total to 226. She is now five rejections behind the America East record and 10 behind the Binghamton mark, set by current Associate Head Coach Leah (Truncale) Bowers from 1998-02.
Moon's three-point field goal with 3:50 left in the third period put the Bearcats up 45-35. From there, however, the Wildcats went on an 11-4 run to close to within 49-46 at the end of the period. Oliva Healy, who scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, had nine of her points during that stretch.
In the fourth period, a layup by James gave Binghamton a 59-54 lead with 3:36 left to go. The Wildcats then went on a 7-0 run in a span of 2:34 to take a 61-59 led. Kat Fogarty, who finished with 14 points, hit the go-ahead jumper.
Moon tied the score at 61-51 with 23 seconds left. She grabbed a defensive rebound and drove the length of the floor for a layup. That set the stage, however, for Lai's heroics.
New Hampshire had a commanding 49-34 rebound advantage, which included 22 offensive rebounds. The Wildcats also had 19 second-chance points.
Binghamton hosts Hartford on Saturday at 4 p.m.
NOTES: Against New Hampshire, Watkins passed May Kotsopoulos of Vermont (1,772 points from 2006-10) and Heather Weindorfer of Hartford (1,780 points from 1993-97) in the America East career scoring chart … James now has 18 career games with at least five blocks … Watkins now has 39 career games with at least 20 or more points ... the America East career block record of 231 is held by Jamie Cassidy of Maine (1996-00).
