The Binghamton women’s basketball team knows how to get off to a quick start. After 10 minutes, things tend to get more complicated.

Last Saturday the Bearcats (6-13, 2-4 AE) jumped out to a 24-9 lead against the Vermont Catamounts (13-6, 3-3 AE), and withstood a furious comeback to hold on for a 64-55 victory at the Events Center. BU then opened with a 16-7 spurt against the Hartford Hawks (12-7, 5-1 AE) on Wednesday, before the two-time defending America East champions rallied for a 71-64 win at Chase Arena.

“Our team is finding out it can compete with anybody,” said head coach Rich Conover. “We just have to do it on a more consistent basis, so the tough stretches that we go through become shorter in duration.”

Conover changed his starting lineup for the Vermont game, starting Shea Kenny and Laura Franceski in lieu of centers Juta Jahilo and Laine Kurpniece. The quicker team paid dividends against the Catamounts, who had defeated Boston College earlier in the season using a four-guard lineup. Kenny, recovering from a foot injury, expertly handled the Vermont full-court press, and Franceski stepped up with one of the biggest games of her college career, posting 12 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots.

“It was very exciting to feel the adrenaline rush going into it,” said Franceski about getting the start.

The Bearcats held a 49-42 lead with 6:15 left before the game got dicey. Vermont’s outstanding freshman, small forward Courtnay Pilypaitis, made a tough shot in the lane while getting fouled. She missed the free throw, but the Catamounts got the board, and May Kotsopoulos hit a 3 to complete the five-point play. Kotsopoulos then hit a baseline jumper to tie the game at 49 with 4:23 remaining.

Unlike in previous games, BU did not crack. Brianna Thompson, who led Binghamton with 13 points, hit a crucial jumper to put the Bearcats ahead for good. Kenny and Rebecka Lindgren provided senior leadership by hitting all 10 of their free throws late.

“We’ve been down this road before,” Conover said. “We got the band together and we got a couple of good, positive possessions together.”

Vermont head coach Sharon Dawley was proud of the fight her team showed for most of the second half, but disappointed in its defensive effort after tying the score.

“I think you see that there’s a great comeback, and then there’s that lull,” Dawley said. “Can you sustain it? Obviously, we were not able to. When we tied it up late and went on our last run, our problem there was that we didn’t have a solid defensive stop for two possessions.”

Conover decided on starting the same lineup against the Hawks, who entered with an 18-game conference home winning streak. For almost 30 minutes Hartford got more than it bargained for, as the Bearcats, led by Lindgren’s 20 points on 7-7 shooting, traded haymakers with the conference’s elite team.

A high-quality game with tournament-style intensity turned against the Bearcats midway through the second half. With 12:18 remaining and the Hawks up 46-45, a crucial turnover by Kenny led to a layup by Hartford’s star center Danielle Hood, who tied Lindgren for high scoring honors with 20 points. On the next possession, point guard Lisa Etienne, who posted a career-high 17 points, hit a three-pointer to extend Hartford’s lead to six. BU never got closer than four the rest of the way.

“Lisa Etienne really got going,” Conover said. “She’s an outstanding player.”

Laura Sario, BU’s leading scorer, struggled mightily, hitting only one of her 11 shot attempts. Lindgren, who was on fire the whole night, took four fewer shots than Sario, who is normally the Bearcats’ top offensive option.

“Our focus was to try and go inside, and when that was shut off, kick it back out,” Conover said. “In retrospect, we should have given Rebecka a few more shots.”

Binghamton squares off next against the Boston University Terriers (10-9, 2-4 AE) at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Events Center. With both teams struggling to avoid the dreaded tournament play-in game, this becomes a critical matchup. The Terriers come in with the third best offense in the league, averaging 66.7 points per game.

“Boston comes in with a high-powered offensive attack,” Conover said. “We will have to play better on the defensive end than we did in Hartford to come out with a win on Saturday.”