VESTAL, N.Y. – Anne Simon scored 17 points while Maeve Carroll finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, powering Maine (10-10, 7-3 AE) to a 54-45 win over Binghamton (5-13, 1-7 AE) in an America East women's basketball game on Friday night at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The contest marked the first of two weekend games between the two squads, who will square off again at the same location on Sunday at noon.

Simon, who leads the America East with 16.4 points per game, went 7-of-13 from the field and sank both of her free throw attempts. Carroll, meanwhile, was 6-of-14 from the field, grabbed 10 of her rebounds on the defensive end and dished out three assists.

Junior forward Denai Bowman led the Bearcats with a game-high 21 points. It marked the fourth time this season and eighth time in her career that she has reached the 20-point mark in scoring. Bowman went 10-for-17 from the floor and also recorded five rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks.

Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Bearcats was junior forward Clare Traeger, who had 10 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds and two steals.

Simon scored 13 of her points in the first 18 minutes of play as the Black Bears opened up a 23-9 lead with 1:54 left in the second period. The Bearcats, however, scored the next nine points to pull to within 23-18 with 9:42 remaining the third period. Bowman had six of her points during that stretch.

The Black Bears regrouped and built their lead up to as much as 48-33 with 5:31 left in regulation. The Bearcats, however, refused to fold and got to within 50-44 on a three-point field goal by Traeger with 1:18 left to go.

From there, Maine got back-to-back baskets from Caroline Bornemann and Alba Orois to get the separation it needed to seal the win.

Orois finished with 11 points and a game-high six assists. She entered the game leading the conference with 5.4 assists per game.

Led by Carroll, Maine finished with a 38-28 advantage in rebounding as well as a commanding 34-18 lead in points in the paint.

"We just came out really passive in the first half and Maine came out ready to play," head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord said. "We did a better job in the second half but Maine did a very good job in the paint."

Junior guard Cassidy Roberts led the Bearcats with four assists and tied for the team lead with two blocks. Freshman forward Genevieve Coleman also had a pair of blocks and grabbed four rebounds.