BANGOR, Maine – Ann Simon had 26 points and 10 rebounds as No. 1 Maine (20-9, 13-2 AE) defeated Binghamton (12-16, 7) in the America East Women's Championship. (AE) with 8 wins and 8 losses. A women's basketball game will be played Thursday night at the Cross Insurance Center. The loss ended the Bearcats' winning streak at three games and secured them the fifth seed in the upcoming America East tournament.
Binghamton will face No. 4 Bryant in the America East quarterfinals on Friday, March 8. The Bulldogs (15-13, 8-7 AE) clinched the top seed with a 60-51 home victory over Massachusetts Lowell earlier in the evening. Bryant dominated both regular season games against Binghamton.
Simon, who led the conference in scoring with 18.4 points per contest, went 10-of-20 from the field, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Ta. All of her 10 rebounds came on the defensive side of the court.
Adriana Smith, Simon's teammate and current America East Player of the Year, grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and had eight points and a game-high seven assists.
Bearcats redshirt sophomore guard Ella Wanzer Scored a team-high 14 points despite being a graduate student Denai Bowman Added 10 points.
Wanzer made 5 of 8 field goals and 4 of 7 3-pointers.
The 10 points brought Bowman's career points to 1,476. She is currently tied for fifth all-time in Binghamton program history with Kai Moon (2016-2020), a tie she reached during her career. Bowman also had six rebounds, four assists and four steals against the Black Bears.
The Bearcats led for much of the first half, but Maine closed out the second period with a 7-2 run to lead 24-19 at intermission. Smith and Simon scored all of the Black Bears' points during that stretch.
Maine then started the third period with eight consecutive points starting 2:26 into the period, increasing its lead to 32-19. However, Binghamton scored the next 11 points in a span of 3 minutes and 59 seconds to cut the lead to 32-30.
From there, the Black Bears went on a 14-2 run in 3 minutes, 41 seconds to take a 46-32 lead at the end of the third period. Binghamton outscored Maine 19-11 in the final period, but at that point Maine had the lead it needed to win.
1st year forward Kendall Bennett He scored eight points off the bench as a junior forward. Genevieve Coleman He finished with 6 points and 6 rebounds.Redshirt sophomore guard Jadyn WeltsMeanwhile, he filled up the stat sheet with seven points, five rebounds, four assists, and a game-high five steals.
Maine outscored Binghamton 46-28 in rebounds, but the Bearcats held a 24-20 advantage in points in the paint. The Black Bears were 14-of-20 (70 percent) from the free-throw line, while Binghamton was just 5-of-12 (41 percent).
Binghamton had 13 assists and turned the ball jobber 10 times.
The Bearcats' game Saturday at New Hampshire tips off at 1 p.m.
