VESTAL, N.Y. – Mariona Planes Fortuny finished with 21 point and 12 rebounds while Mia Mancini added 15 points, powering Bryant (8-8, 1-2 AE) to a 62-51 win over Binghamton (5-10, 0-2 AE) in an America East women's basketball game on Thursday morning at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The contest marked the Bearcats' first-ever "Beyond the Classroom Youth Day," which attracted a program attendance record of 3,429 fans.

Planes Fourtuny went 10-for-18 from the field and added a pair of assists and a steal. She came into the game ranked fifth in the America East with 14.9 points per game.

Mancini, meanwhile, also dished out three assists and recorded a pair of rebounds. She has already been named the America East Rookie of the Week five times this season and came into the game against Binghamton ranked second in scoring (15.8 ppg).
Also reaching double figures for the Bulldogs was Martina Boba, who chipped in 12 points.

For the Bearcats, junior forward Genevieve Coleman netted a career-high 21 points. She went 7-for-13 from the field, made all three of her three-point field goal attempts as well as all four of her free throws. Coleman's previous career-high of 20 points came against Pitt-Johnstown back on Nov. 16, 2022.

Redshirt sophomore guard Jadyn Weltz dished out a game-high six assists to go along with eight points and five rebounds.

The Bulldogs led the game from start to finish but the Bearcats remained within striking distance through three periods. With 10 minutes remaining, Bryant was nursing a 48-43 lead.

Bryant finally got the separation it needed with a 6-0 run in a span of 1:46 to take a 57-45 lead with 6:34 in regulation, prompting the Bearcats to call a timeout. Three different Bulldog players, including Planes Fortuny, scored during that stretch.

From there, Binghamton got to within 57-49 on a driving layup by freshman guard Yanniah Boyd with 5:16 left to go. The Bulldogs, however, sealed the victory by reeling off the next five points to go up 62-49 with 1:52 remaining.

"I am really happy that we were able to have a Youth Day and the kids were terrific today," head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord said. "Unfortunately for us, we weren't able to get over the hump and come away with the W."

Graduate student guard Denai Bowman – who missed the previous five games with an injury – returned to the starting lineup. In 30 minutes, she finished with four points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals. For her career, Bowman now has 1,308 points and remains in seventh place all time in program history.

"It was great to have Denai back today," Shapiro Ord said. "She is such a dynamic player and I can't believe she played 30 minutes in her first game back."
 
Bryant shot 41 percent from the field (24-of-58) while the Bearcats struggled offensively, shooting just 33 percent for the game (19-of-58). The Bulldogs also held a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint.

From the free throw line, Binghamton was a perfect 8-for-8. It marked the first time that the Bearcats have shot 1.000 since also going 8-for-8 at Eastern Michigan on Dec. 10, 2021.

Binghamton concludes its three-game homestand against UAlbany on Saturday at 2 p.m.

NOTE: The previous Binghamton women's basketball home attendance record of 3,263 fans came against Vermont back on Feb. 11, 2011.