With 5:30 left in a blowout game between the Binghamton women’s basketball team and Division II Nyack College, freshman guard Rebecca Carmody swooped to the basket and finished what appeared to be a run of the mill layup. But as the ball sunk through the hoop, the Binghamton bench exploded with joy as if Carmody had just hit a buzzer-beating game winner. The source of the seemingly disproportionate reaction, however, was a player who wasn’t even standing on the court when the basket occurred.

Sophomore guard Imani Watkins, who inbounded the ball directly to Carmody, had just tallied her 10th assist of the game, locking up the first triple-double by a Bearcat women’s basketball player since 1992. Behind Watkins’ 20 points, 10 assist and 10 rebounds, BU dispatched Nyack 65-33, improving to 4-7 on the year and equaling their win total over the entirety of last season.

“I thank my teammates for putting the ball in the basket,” Watkins said “When they saw me coming in the lane for the rebound, they knew to get out of the way. So I’m just thankful.”

Watkins’ stat stuffing against the Warriors wasn’t an anomaly. She has been one of the team’s major contributors on both ends of the court this season, averaging 16.2 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game and 5.1 assists per game.

“Imani is such an unselfish player, she’s really grown a lot this year,” BU head coach Linda Cimino said. “She’s had to take on a lot of responsibility at the point, and she’s trying to score, be a leader, and run our offense.

From the onset of the contest, Binghamton found itself firmly in the driver’s seat. After beginning the game with a commanding 8-0 lead, the Bearcats concluded the first quarter up 24-2. Nyack did manage to restore a certain degree of parity in the second quarter, however, outscoring the Bearcats 10-7 behind the efforts of senior forward Jamie McKeither.

BU continued its dominant ways at the game’s re-start, bettering the Warriors by 13 in the third quarter to effectively wrap up the matchup. By the time the final period rolled around, the lead was simply to steep for Nyack to overcome.

While the contest appeared to be quite lopsided, Cimino did acknowledge that Nyack performed better than the scoreboard suggested.

“You gotta give Nyack some credit,” Cimino said. “They played hard, they were scrappy, and we haven’t seen anyone like them all year in terms of full court pressure. Nyack did a great job against us defensively.”

Sophomore forward Alyssa James registered a quality all around stat-line as well with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks, while Carmody tallied her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Bearcats were particularly lethal from downtown, where they shot an impressive 41.7 percent 3 point percentage.

The Bearcats are set to return on December against Cornell. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m, from Bartels Hall in Ithaca, New York.