The Binghamton women’s basketball team dropped a match on the road at Columbia University on Monday, falling 73-60. Despite a large comeback from the Bearcats in the third quarter after being down by double digits, the Lions held them off and captured a victory.

“They weren’t calling fouls either way, so we have to be able to handle that,” said Binghamton head coach Mary Grimes. “But I think we’re still showing some resiliency, which I like. We had to make some adjustments as far as our defense and I think it stunned them for a little bit. But it’s a good team to play against and understand where we got to get to.”

The first quarter opened with each team trading layups, a tone that was matched through most of the quarter. After going down 6-2, junior guard Leah Middleton hit a three to bring Binghamton (3-3) within one point of Columbia (3-2). The Bearcats stayed within a few points of their opponents, but consistently trailed and a seven-point run put the Lions up 24-14. Scoring slowed in the final minutes of the quarter, with a three-pointer from junior guard Bella Pucci finishing the scoring for Binghamton as the scoreboard read 26-19 headed into the second.

The two teams continued to trade blows in the first half of the second quarter, but Columbia closed it out with an eight-point run, upping its lead to 40-26 as the half expired.

“Pressing teams don’t like to be pressed,” Grimes said. “I think if we would have stayed in our press, it would have shown on their end too. But I think going into the zone defense actually worked well for us to start, and kind of caught them off guard.”

Although Columbia opened the second half with a layup, Binghamton quickly responded with a layup of its own from junior forward Kendall Bennett. After another layup from Columbia, Binghamton went on a 12-3 run, bringing the game within seven points. The Lions answered with five consecutive points before the Bearcats fought back with a 14-2 run, tying the game at 54-54. A last-minute jumper from Columbia would put them ahead by two headed into the final quarter of play.

However, Columbia controlled the pace of play throughout the final period, scoring eight straight to open the quarter. The Lions continued to tack on points, while Bennett scored five of the six points the Bearcats earned in the fourth quarter as Binghamton fell 73-60.

“We’ve got to be able to take care of the ball a lot better than that,” Grimes said. “With [Pucci] with six [turnovers] and [junior guard Yanniah Boyd] with six. I think that comes from that physicality. There’s some bumping going on and we’re losing the ball, so we’ve got to be able to handle the ball.”

Bennett was the game’s top scorer with 16 points, tying for first on the squad in rebounds with eight. The team’s other top rebounder was Boyd, who was also the second-leading scorer with 12 points. Pucci and Middleton rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 each and four and five rebounds, respectively. Senior guard Meghan Casey led the team with five assists and two steals.

“We’ve just got to get some rest and get healthy,” Grimes said. “I think the Akron game took a lot out of us to fight, and we’ve got to have some other players lock in and step up. Our bench didn’t play much this game outside of [Casey], but she understands the expectations, so I’m real proud of her.”

The Bearcats look to bounce back as they wrap up their first road trip of the season. Binghamton will take on San Diego on Wednesday, Dec. 3, where tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego, California