Bearcats face Hartford on Friday at noon in quarterfinal round

VESTAL, N.Y.—Freshman forward Morgan Murphy finished with a team-best 14 points while junior guard Jasbriell Swain pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds, leading Binghamton (6-23, 5-11 AE) to a 62-45 win over UMBC (10-19, 6-10 AE) in an America East women’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at the Events Center. The game, which was carried by ESPN3, marked the Bearcats’ second triumph in their last three games.

“It’s great to win our final regular season game and to honor our three graduating seniors,” head coach Nicole Scholl said. “We ended the season playing well and we have everyone healthy heading into the (America East) tournament.

Binghamton will now carry the No. 7 seed into the America East Tournament, where they will face No. 2 Hartford on Friday at noon in the quarterfinal round. The game will mark a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal game, which the Bearcats won 48-45.

Again UMBC on Saturday, Murphy was joined in double figures by senior guard Mallory Lawes, who finished with 13 points. Each of them netted seven points in the opening 20 minutes as the Bearcats took a 27-23 lead at the break.

Up 40-34 with 10:57 left in regulation, Binghamton went on a 12-0 run in a span of 4:26 to go up 52-34 with 7:31 left in regulation. Junior guard Stephanie Jensen, who finished with nine points, swished a pair of three pointers during that span. Lawes, Swain and Murphy had the other three baskets.
The Retrievers got as close as 54-41 at the 3:47 mark of the second half on a layup by Kristin Coles. For the game, Coles finishes with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Binghamton, however, responded with scored six straight points to take a 60-41 lead with 2:50 left to go.

Swain, meanwhile, finished one rebound shy of her career-best 17 rebounds, which she also recorded against UMBC on Jan. 2, 2011. She now has 676 career rebounds and is in eighth place all time in program history. Karen McClelland (1996-00) ranks seventh with 679 career rebounds.
Ashley Lambert added 12 points for UMBC.

NOTES: Coles and Lawes were named the America East Players of the Game ... this year’s America East Tournament is being hosted by Albany ... prior to the game, the Bearcats honored graduating seniors Lawes, Kara Elofson and Simone Thomas during an on-court ceremony.