VESTAL, N.Y. – With a dominating fourth quarter by the Bearcats, Binghamton women's basketball (16-6, 8-1) defeated UMBC (11-11, 6-4) 73-59 Thursday night at the Events Center. With the win, the Bearcats moved into sole possession of first place in the America East standings for the first time in program history through nine games played.

Kendall Bennett and Bella Pucci combined for 44 points, as both juniors eclipsed the 20-point mark in Thursday's game. K. Bennett also notched her 10th double-double of the season (21pts, 13rebs), which now moves her into a three-way tie for most double-doubles in a single season since moving to Division I.

"They're just a constant anchor for us offensively, and they did an unbelievable job today," head coach Mary Grimes said about Pucci and K Bennett's efforts tonight.

An offensive battle in the first half saw eight three-pointers get knocked down by the two sides in Thursday's game.

Binghamton shot the ball well in the first half, shooting 50% from the field and the three-point line. The Bearcats were aggressive on the glass with 17 rebounds, but lost the ball 10 times, allowing UMBC to score seven points off those turnovers.

UMBC's Jade Tillman carried the Retrievers in the first half with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting and draining 3-of-4 shots beyond the arc.

With Tillman's efforts and Binghamton's consistency on the offensive side, the score went back and forth with lead changes up until the halfway point, where the two sides settled on an even half at 32- 32.

The offensive attack continued in the third quarter with Binghamton just outscoring UMBC 20-19 to lead by one heading into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was dominated by the Bearcats on both sides of the ball. Binghamton went on a 10-0 run over the stretch of 2:49, which gave them a 66-53 lead with 3:27 left to play. The Bearcats shot their best percentage (63.6%) from the field and tallied 21 points in the final 10 minutes of play.

Binghamton put UMBC into a frenzy with their lockdown defense in the fourth quarter. The Bearcats held the Retrievers to just eight points on just 20% shooting, their lowest percentage of the four quarters.

Leah Middleton played an exceptional game for the Bearcats. She scored a season-high 15 points, going 3-for-5 from the three-point line, and was one of the primary defenders on Tillman in the second half, who only scored 2 points after an explosive first half.

"She shot the ball with confidence." Coach Grimes said about Middleton tonight. "I think it really started with her defense. That got her going, which allowed her to have the offensive game she had today."

A back-and-forth battle for most of the game saw 11 lead changes before the Bearcats put the pedal to the metal in the fourth quarter. A quarter that has been owned by Binghamton all season long.

"This team never quits," K. Bennett said. "No matter if we get too low or too high, we play till the very end."

The Bearcats continue to protect the Events Center, as the team now moves to 10-1 at home this season and 5-0 in conference play. Binghamton will look to stay undefeated in conference play on Saturday when they take on NJIT for a noon tip-off at the EC.