VESTAL, N.Y. – Behind the strength of 58.3% shooting in the second half, the UMass women’s basketball team downed Binghamton, 64-55, at the Events Center on Monday night. UMass’ second straight win moves the Minutewomen to 3-8 on the season while the Bearcats fall to 5-6 after suffering their fourth straight loss at home.
Four Minutewomen scored in double figures and juniors Jasmine Watson and Shakia Robinson each finished a rebound shy of a double-double. Watson chipped in 16 points and nine boards and Robinson contributed 10 points and nine rebounds. Senior Emilie Teuscher added 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Redshirt-sophomore Carolann Cloutier finished with 10 points.
In a contest ruled by defense early on, the teams started a combined 1-for-22 from the floor. Watson notched the first field goal for UMass at the 10:31 mark and racked up 10 points over a 17-2 stretch that gave the Minutewomen an 18-8 lead with 4:48 remaining in the period, the largest margin of the opening half. Binghamton closed the gap to three on a pair of occasions before Cloutier drained a three with 27 ticks on the clock to give UMass a 24-18 advantage at the intermission.
The Minutewomen used an 8-0 stretch early in the second half to further distance themselves from the Bearcats and led by as many as 19. Binghamton closed the gap to seven with 1:44 remaining, but the Minutewomen hit six free throws over the duration of the game to seal the victory. UMass finished 13-for-17 (76.5%) at the charity stripe.
The Minutewomen shot 22-for-47 (46.8%) overall compared to the Bearcats’ 19-for-55 (34.5%) performance. Binghamton converted 13-of-24 (54.2%) free throws. The Minutewomen outrebounded Binghamton, 37-32.
For Binghamton, senior Andrea Holmes scored 12 of her team-high 15 points in the second half, connecting on 3-of-4 shots from beyond the arc in the losing effort. Senior Orla O’Reilly netted 14 points and senior Viive Rebane chipped in 13 points. Junior Kara Elofson grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Minutewomen return to action on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. when they travel to Loudonville, N.Y., to take on Siena in a non-conference contest at Alumni Recreation Center.
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