BURLINGTON, Vt. – Binghamton (9-20) put up a valiant effort before losing 71-63 to Vermont (20-10) in an America East women's basketball quarterfinal game on Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gym. The Bearcats entered the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed while the Catamounts got to host the game as the higher seed (No. 3).

Junior guard Denai Bowman, who earlier in the week was named first-team all-conference for the second year in a row, filled up the stat sheet again on Saturday. She scored a team-best 18 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists, a block and two steals. Bowman finishes the season with a career-best and team-best 14.6 points per game.

Junior forward Jalyn Van Dyke netted a career-best 16 points. She shot 6-of-10 from the field and canned all four of her free throws.

In her 100th and final collegiate game, senior guard Hayley Moore finished with 10 points. She drained a pair of three-point field goals in the process, giving her 114 for her career. That ties her for 11th place all time in Binghamton program history with Laura Sario (2004-08).

Vermont countered with Anna Olson, who scored a game-high 22 points, and Emma Utterbach, who had 19 points. Utterbach joined Bowman as a first-team all-conference selection earlier in the week while Olson was named to the second team.

Binghamton held the lead for the majority of the game. The Bearcats were up 36-34 at the half and extended their cushion to 52-46 through three periods of play. Binghamton shot 60 percent in the second period (6-of-10)  as well as 64 percent in the third period (7-of-11).

The Catamounts, however, came clawing back in the fourth period and took the lead for good on a three-point field goal by Josie Larkins with 2:16 left in regulation. That basket sparked a 10-0 run that gave Vermont a 64-55 lead with 47 seconds left to go.

Bowman and Van Dyke each scored four points during the remainder of the game but by that point, the Catamounts had the separation that they needed.

"I'm proud of the effort my kids gave today, every day and every game this season," head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord said. "It was a tough one tonight but everyone on this team is pretty special."

Junior guard Clare Traeger finished with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds. She finished the season with a career-best 8.2 rebounds per game.

Binghamton outshot Vermont 47 percent (25-53) to 42 percent (25-of-59). The Catamounts, however, had a 40-28 advantage in points in the paint as well as a 24-9 cushion in points off of turnovers.

From the free throw line, Binghamton made 11 of its 12 attempts (91.7 percent).

The Bearcats will lose Moore and senior guard Hanna Strawn to graduation but return everyone else on their roster in 2022-23.