VESTAL, N.Y. – Breyenne Bellerand scored a game-high 16 points and Sierra Smith grabbed a facility-record 21 rebounds, steering Hartford (3-2, 3-2 AE) to a 64-54 win over Binghamton (1-6, 1-4 AE) in an America East women's basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The game was the first of two meetings between the squads, who will square off again on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Bellerand shot 6-for-7 from the field and was 3-of-4 from the free throw line. She also tallied five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Smith scored six points but it was her presence on the boards that put her into the Events Center record book. She has 16 of her rebounds on the defensive end. The previous facility record for rebounds in a women's basketball game was 20, set by Binghamton's Olivia Ramil against UMass Lowell on Jan. 11, 2020.

For Binghamton, senior Kaylee Wasco and sophomore Destiny Samuel each notched a double-double. Wasco had a team-best 13 points and 11 rebounds while Samuel added 10 points and 10 rebounds. It marked Wasco's second double-double in three games as well as the first double-double of Samuel's career.

In addition, sophomore forward Clare Traeger nearly turned in a third Bearcat double-double. She finished with nine points and tied her career high with 11 rebounds. It marked the third time this year that Traeger has reached double figures in rebounding.

Hartford led from start to finish, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first 4:12 of the game. The Hawks held a 33-25 lead at the break and then blew the game open by outscoring Binghamton 19-6 in the third period to go up 52-33.

The Hawks stretched their lead to as much as 62-40 with 3:58 left in regulation.

The Bearcats offense finally started to click in the last four minutes of the game, as they scored 14 points during that stretch. By then, however, the contest was out of reach.

"Hartford is much improved with all of their new players," head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord said. "They did a really good job against our post players. We didn't get the looks when we needed to and we didn't get the initial passes inside as much as we should have."

Sophomore forward Birna Benonysdottir scored 10 points, marking the second straight game she has reached double figures in scoring.

Jada Lucas added 13 points in the winning effort for Hartford.

The last time two Binghamton players recorded a double-double was against Niagara on Dec. 5, 2018. Rebecca Carmody had 16 points and 12 rebounds while Ramil added 12 points and 14 rebounds against the Purple Eagles.

The last time three Bearcat players reached double figures in rebounding came against Cortland on Nov. 13, 2017. Carly Boland had 14 rebounds followed by Corrinne Godshall (11) and Karlee Krchnavi (10).

Binghamton's 43 rebounds represents its season high.