VESTAL, N.Y. – Junior guard Denai Bowman scored a team-best 18 points, pacing Binghamton (9-19, 5-13 AE) to a 58-48 win over UMBC (3-23, 2-14 AE) in the final America East women's basketball regular-season game on Wednesday evening at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. With the victory, the Bearcats clinch the No. 6 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and will head to No. 3 Vermont for a 2:30 p.m. game on Saturday.

Bowman, who is now tied for second in the America East with a career-high 14.5 points per game, went 8-for-14 from the field and canned both of her free throws. She also added five rebounds, an assist, a pair of blocks and three steals.

Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Bearcats were senior guard Hayley Moore (11 points) and junior forward Birna Benonysdottir (10 points). Benonysdottir also finished with a game-high and career-best four blocks while Moore was 3-for-8 from three-point range and recorded a pair of steals.

The Bearcats got the separation they needed against UMBC in the first period as they raced out to a 19-7 lead. Junior forward Jalen Van Dyke led a balanced attack with five points and the Bearcats shot 61 percent from the field (8-for-13) in the opening 10 minutes of play.

From there, Binghamton took a 35-21 lead at the half and had a 52-41 cushion through three quarters. In the third quarter alone, Bowman scored 11 of her points.

UMBC pulled to within 55-48 on a jumper by Keelah Dixon with 4:11 left in regulation. She led all scorers in the game with 20 points.

Moore, however, gave the Bearcats some breathing room when she scored the final points of the game – a three-pointer with 3:21 remaining to put her team up 58-48.

"I thought we did a terrific job in the first half and I was hoping we could keep it up the whole game," head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord said. "We had three players in double figures and we need balanced scoring in the playoffs. I thought Denai, Birna and Hayley all did a tremendous job tonight."

Van Dyke finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists. She was 3-of 6 from the floor as well as 2-for-4 from beyond the three-point arc.

Junior guard Cassidy Roberts turned in a six-point, five-rebound, six-assist effort. The six assists tied her career high.

Junior forward Clare Traeger grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. She has now reached double figures in rebounding seven times this season and 11 times during her career.

Binghamton, which has now won four of its past five games, shot 45.5 percent from the field (25-of-55) against the Retrievers. In their last five contests, the Bearcats have averaged 45 percent shooting.

The Bearcats also held a 22-16 edge over UMBC in points in the paint as well as a 16-6 advantage in points off of turnovers.

In addition, the seven blocked shots was Binghamton's highest total of the season.

NOTES: The Bearcats lost both regular-season games to Vermont but played the Catamounts tough in a 65-60 defeat at Patrick Gym last Wednesday. Earlier in the season, the Catamounts took a 47-33 decision back on Feb. 9 at the Events Center … Saturday's game will mark the first time the two teams have squared off in the playoff since the 2005 quarterfinals. The Catamounts won that contest 80-65 and hold a 2-0 lead all time in America East Tournament games against the Bearcats.