In their first career appearance for the Binghamton women’s basketball team, freshman guards Jasmine Sina and Imani Watkins proved their potential. Watkins scored 40 points over the course of two games — earning America East Rookie of the Week honors on the way — while Sina added 27, leading Binghamton (1-1) to a victory over Delaware State.

That 90-84 win was the first Division I victory for first-year head coach Linda Cimino. Over the weekend, the Bearcats also fell to the host of the Akron Tournament, 80-49, on Friday night.

After a tit-for-tat opening, Watkins took over in the first half against Delaware St. on Saturday. With BU trailing by four, the 5-foot-8 guard drained a 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining in the period. From there, she would score eight more points, enabling Binghamton to secure a 42-31 advantage heading into the half. Watkins scored 18 total points in the first 20.

“Imani did a good job in the first half with attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line,” Cimino said. “She did a great job of scoring good baskets in transition and the half-court.”

Following halftime, Delaware St. (0-2) laid extra emphasis on limiting Watkins’ scoring chances — she would score only three more points in the contest.

But Watkins’ dry spell gave Sina an opportunity to leave her mark. She scored five points in the opening six minutes of the half, pushing BU’s lead to 57-43 with 14 minutes remaining. Sina would pour in nine more points through the period and finish the game with 18.

“[In] the second half, they did a good job denying [Watkins] the ball, so she became more of a role player,” Cimino said. “[Both Sina and Watkins] weren’t afraid to shoot, they weren’t afraid to go to the basket and they weren’t afraid to take big shots.”

However, Delaware St. refused to roll over. The Hornets cut BU’s lead to seven with three minutes left to play. But the Bearcats delivered on their chances to seal the game from the free-throw line, draining ten in a row from the charity stripe. Junior guard Kim Albrecht, who knocked down the last six free throws for BU, scored a career-high 27 points.

“In the second half today, we went 19 of 20 from the free-throw line,” Cimino said. “We made our free throws when it counted. Coming off short rest — less than 24 hours rest — the girls did a good job playing together as a team, making the extra pass. We had balanced scoring today … and that always helps.”

BU played a competitive half against Akron — the defending MAC champion — to open its season. Watkins scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds in the contest while Sina added six points and six rebounds. Both helped to keep BU within striking distance of an Akron team that captured 23 victories a season ago. The two teams headed into the locker room with Akron leading by just three, 30-27.

That gap wouldn’t stay so narrow. BU had no answer for Akron junior guard Anita Brown. She poured in 23 points in the second half alone and grabbed five rebounds as her team outscored BU, 50-22, in the period on its way to routing BU, 80-49. Brown finished the game with 29 points while senior forward Sina King scored 19.

“[We] just kind of ran out of gas,” Cimino said. “We were really proud of the way the girls played. They fought, they played hard and they never gave up. And that’s what we talk about — that is what we want to be about.”

Sina scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists in the losing effort while Watkins ended with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Binghamton played the contest without senior forward Sherae Swinson, who missed the matchup due to a “violation of team academic policy” according to Cimino.

The Bearcats will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Canisius. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Koessler Athletic Center.