NEWARK, N.J. – After trailing as much as 17 at one point, Binghamton women's basketball (9-5, 1-0) came back and claimed victory in a thrilling 75-71 win over NJIT (10-5, 1-1). Kendall Bennett, Meghan Casey and Bella Pucci combined for 60 of Bing's 75 points. K. Bennett registered her sixth double-double with 23 points (career-high) and 11 rebounds.

"I'm proud of this group … we get down in holes from the beginning and we got to fight and claw our way back … it's good that we're doing that, but we got to start off games with same type of intensity that we had in the second." head coach Mary Grimes said after Saturday's comeback victory.

NJIT broke out the scoring early, going up 16-5 in the first seven minutes of the game. The Bearcats forced a couple of turnovers to get back within eight at the end of the first quarter.
Rebounding was the major difference in the first half. 10 of NJIT's 23 rebounds came on the offensive side, allowing for 12 second-chance points to be generated for the Highlanders. Binghamton had a total of 15 rebounds. NJIT had seven threes in the first half, giving them a 45-30 lead at the half.

With some halftime adjustments, the Bearcats came out controlling possessions and limiting themselves to just one turnover in the third quarter. Casey started to heat up with 11 of her 23 points coming from the third quarter, helping the Bearcats generate the much-needed momentum heading to the final quarter of the play.

"The team gives me confidence every day." Casey stated after scoring a career-high 23 points. "My coach just told me to shoot it, attack it, and it's just all because of my team honestly."
The Bearcats continued to claw their way back into the game with a strong defensive effort, forcing nine turnovers and converting 13 points off those turnovers, while holding NJIT to only 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Binghamton continued to put points on the board and found themselves only down by three with five minutes left to play. K. Bennett continued to drive to the basket and found herself at the free-throw line 12 times, making 11 of her opportunities to make the difference for the Bearcats.
A jumper from Casey to put her over 20 points put Binghamton back level with Highlanders for the first time at 66.

The Highlanders continued to foul K. Bennett and the junior forward kept draining shots. She hit two shots to give Binghamton its first lead of the game at 68-66 with 1:28 left to play.
The Bearcats would reach the free-throw line a few more times and were able to hold off the Highlanders in the final seconds to complete the 17-point comeback, giving Binghamton its first America East win of the season.

"I said it right before we started. It's like playing ourselves. A lot of credit to them (NJIT) but you know, I'm glad we came out of here with a victory and we had a lot of resiliency" coach Grimes concluded with.
 
The Bearcats return home for their first game at the Events Center in the new year against defending America East champion Vermont on Thursday.