VESTAL, N.Y – Junior forward
Olivia Ramil finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks, powering Binghamton (22-8) to a 51-42 win over New Hampshire (10-19) in an America East quarterfinal game on Wednesday night at the Events Center. With the victory, the Bearcats advance to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2016 as they will head to Stony Brook on Sunday for a 4 p.m. matchup.
The win is the sixth straight victory for Binghamton who are now 13-2 at home this season. The 22 wins, meanwhile, ties the sixth most in the 46-year history of the program.
Ramil was 6-for-8 from the field, drained a three pointer and hit four of five free throws. The 17 points and five blocks tie her career highs and the double-double was the fourth of her career.
Freshman guard
Denai Bowman added nine points and a pair of steals while senior guard
Karlee Krchnavi turned in an eight-point, 11 rebound performance. Krchnavi now has nine career games with at least 10 rebounds. Senior guard
Carly Boland, meanwhile, finished with nine points, two assists and a pair of blocks.
It was a strong defensive team effort that proved decisive in the victory. They held the Wildcats to just 21 points in the second half – including seven in the final period.
"I am really excited about what these young ladies brought today," head coach
Bethann Shapiro Ord said. "We had a few bumps in the road early but it was a really good New Hampshire team we faced."
Trailing 21-20 at half, the Bearcats scored the first seven points of the third period. On the defensive end, they registered two consecutive blocks during that stretch.
The Wildcats clawed back to tie the score at 33-33 on a basket by Ashley Storey with 1:34 left in the third period. Storey tied Ramil for the game high with 17 points.
In the fourth period, the Bearcats finally got the separation they needed. They went on a 9-0 run in a span of 3:13 to go up 49-39.
"I told our team at halftime that we had to pick it up," Shapiro Ord. "We needed to pick it up on the rebounds and stop giving them second-chance opportunities. This group really pulled it together and gritted it out."
For New Hampshire, Amanda Torres and Caroline Soucy each finished with eight points.
Free throws were a key to the victory. The Bearcats shot 82 percent, hitting on 14 of their 17 attempts. New Hampshire, by contrast, made just three of their six attempts.
Binghamton finished the game with a season low six turnovers. The Bearcats also held a 14-4 advantage in points in the paint.
The Bearcats finish the season against New Hampshire a perfect 3-0. All three victories, however, were by 10 points or less.
NOTES: Binghamton heads to the America East semifinals for the seventh time in program history. Two of their previous six quarterfinal wins also took place at the Events Center. The Bearcats' most recent conference tournament triumph was a 49-41 win over UMBC in the quarterfinal round at the Events Center on March 5, 2016.
