Binghamton University women’s basketball (11-15, 6-7 America East) hopes to take the No. 4 seed in the America East Championship as they play host to the UMBC Retrievers (14-12, 6-7 AE). The loser will fall down in the standings and have Stony Brook and New Hampshire at 4-8 in the conference nipping at their heels.

The first time these teams met was not pretty for Binghamton. UMBC won 78-63 at the RAC Arena in Baltimore on Jan. 24. Carlee Cassidy torched the Bearcats with 27 points, while Erin Brown and Michelle Kurowski chipped in with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Despite the tough loss, however, head coach Nicole Scholl is not worried about her team being ready to play.

“When we saw UMBC last it was early,” Scholl said. “We’re playing much better now. It should be a hard-fought game.”

If Binghamton wants to win this game, they will need to contain Cassidy. Making a case for AE Player of the Year, Cassidy leads the conference in scoring at 21.5 points per contest. However, the Bearcats harassed Cassidy into a 4-15 shooting performance last year when these two teams met at the Events Center, so perhaps they will be able to put the clamps on her again.

“We really need to stop Cassidy; that’s their leading scorer,” said junior forward Darryll Peterson. “We want to force someone else to step up.”

How well Binghamton plays on the defensive end of the floor is another key to the game for the Bearcats. At 70.5 points per game, UMBC is second in the conference in scoring to Boston. They hung 78 points on the Bearcats last time they played, 13.1 points more than the 64.9 that Binghamton surrenders per game. However, Scholl has been pleased with her team’s defense of late, most notably her team’s ability to get in the passing lanes. Against Maine in the team’s last game, Andrea Holmes led the team in steals with six, while Peterson had five rips and Viive Rebane added four. All three players are in the top 11 in the AE in steals.

“Our defense has stepped up the last few games now,” Scholl said. “We’re playing very well defensively as a team. Viive [Rebane] and Darryll [Peterson] have been using their quickness to bother teams in the post.”

If Binghamton wants to come out on top against UMBC, it will also need to take better care of the basketball than it did in its previous meeting. The Bearcats committed 24 turnovers in their January setback at UMBC, to just 17 for the Retrievers. Against Maine on Saturday, Feb. 21, the Bearcats committed just three second-half turnovers and won the turnover battle, 27-16. Coincidentally, they won by 20 points.

“Turnovers are obviously lost possessions,” Scholl said. “Every possession matters, especially against a team like UMBC. For us, the turnovers are something we have addressed all year long.”

Binghamton looks to surge to sole possession of fourth place in the America East when they do battle with the UMBC Retrievers.

Tip-off is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Events Center.