The team lacked experience, but they didn’t lack confidence.

The No. 4 seeded Binghamton University women’s basketball team claimed victory over the No. 5 UMBC Retrievers, 66-54, in their quarterfinal matchup at the America East Championship this past Friday. This win placed them in a semifinal clash with top-seeded Boston University.

“For us this is the third time in the program’s history since going Division I that we advanced to the semifinals,” said Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl.

Binghamton started the game with a 7-0 run that junior Erica Carter finished off with a 3-pointer. UMBC countered with a 13-9 run with less than 10 minutes to go in the half. America East Rookie of the Year Andrea Holmes and junior Muffy Sadler hit 3-pointers for the Bearcats, extending BU’s lead to 35-26 at the half. Binghamton had to overcome serious foul trouble all throughout the game, especially with senior Laura Franceski, who fouled out with nine minutes to go in the second half with Binghamton leading by 12; she finished with six points and 12 rebounds.

“It’s tournament time and everybody is striving for the same goal and everybody is going to do whatever it takes to win,” Carter said. “We knew that the 10-point lead we had at halftime, we’d have to keep it.”

Carter led the way with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Holmes added 13 points, six rebounds and four assists in her AE Championship debut.

“To me this was just another conference game,” Holmes said. “I know how important tournament time is, but you just have to maintain composure.”

Holmes received the Rookie of the Year award, the second time a Binghamton player has received a major conference award since the program joined the program; Sarah Cartmill was named the America East Player of the Year in 2002.

The victory was BU’s second in a row over the Retrievers. Binghamton routed UMBC 70-50 back on Feb. 28 that essentially gave BU the fourth seed in the conference tournament.

“I’d like to congratulate UMBC who had a lot of young players who played very well for them this year,” Scholl said. “They’re always a tough opponent to play and they played with a lot of heart tonight, and a lot of effort.”

Binghamton made up for last season’s disappointment when they fell early in the quarterfinals to Albany with their win Friday, setting up a semifinal matchup with then-undefeated Boston University.