Box Score SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Graduate student guard Denai Bowman scored a game-high 24 points, leading fifth-seeded Binghamton (14-16) to a 56-51 victory over fourth-seeded Bryant (15-15) in an America East women's basketball quarterfinal game on Friday evening at Chace Athletic Center. With the victory, the Bearcats advance to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2020 and will travel to top-seeded Maine on Monday for a 6 p.m. game.

Bowman was 7-of-17 from the field but hit 10 of her 11 free throw attempts. She also finished with five rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.

Bowman's point total is the highest scoring performance by a Binghamton player in an America East Tournament game since Laura Sario scored 26 points against Boston University on March 9, 2007. She now has 1,516 points for her career, which continues to rank fifth all time in program history.

Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Bearcats against Bryant was sophomore forward Camryn Fauria, who finished with 13 points. She was 4-of-9 from the field, canned both of her three-point field goal attempts and tied for the team lead with six rebounds.

It was redshirt sophomore guard Jadyn Weltz, however, that provided the biggest basket of the night. She was held scoreless for the first 39 minutes of the game but with the Bearcats clinging to a 47-45 lead, she made a huge three-point shot with just 43 seconds left in regulation.

Bowman's final points of the night came on a pair of made free throws with 29 seconds left, padding the Bearcat lead to 52-45.

Weltz was just as clutch in the final 24 seconds from the free throw line. She went a perfect 4-for-4 to seal the victory. Weltz's seven points went along with a game-high five assists, six rebounds and a pair of steals.

The win was all the more meaningful for the Bearcats because they had lost both regular-season games to the Bulldogs. In the process, they also lost the home court advantage for the 4/5 seed matchup. Back on Feb. 10, Binghamton was unable to hold on to a double-digit lead in a 55-51 loss at Bryant.

"Our team knew what we had to do tonight," head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord said. "We rebounded the ball well tonight - which we didn't do the last time we were here – and we played much better team defense. Those were the biggest differences tonight."

Silvia Gonzalez led Bryant with 12 points while Mariana Planes Fortuny and Nia Scott each added 12 points.

Although the Bearcats shot just 33 percent from the field for the game (17-of-51), they went 17-of-21 from the free throw line (81 percent). Defensively, Binghamton blocked four shots and recorded 10 steals. In addition, the Bearcats scored 22 points off of Bulldog turnovers.

Binghamton and Maine meet for the second straight year in the America East Tournament. The Black Bears won 64-54 in the quarterfinals last year.

Maine has won all three previous conference tournament games against Bearcats but this is the first time the two teams will square off in the semifinal round. The Black Bears' other quarterfinal wins over Binghamton came back in 2015 and 2017. Maine has been the higher seed in all three previous contests.