The Binghamton women’s basketball team went into the final quarter of its season with a six-point cushion. After trading buckets, Vermont gained the lead before BU put in a layup with under three minutes left to go. The Bearcats then allowed a 3-pointer which sparked a 10-0 run, putting the game out of reach and ending Binghamton’s season 71-63.

“I think they think we’re a hockey team, it’s like three quarters for hockey, right?” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “No, I’m just really proud of the effort my kids always gave every game, every day. It was a tough one tonight, but again that Vermont team is pretty special.”

In the first quarter, Binghamton (9-20, 5-13 America East [AE]) sprung forward 11-4 four minutes into the game after four of the five Binghamton starters scored early. After a fast-break layup by junior guard Denai Bowman, the Catamounts (20-10, 13-5 AE) turned the corner, scoring 13-straight points. Bowman hit a jump shot with just under a minute and a half to go to stop the bleeding, but UVM ended the quarter on a 17-4 run to take a 21-15 lead.

“Once again [Bowman] offensively and defensively even getting hit the way she did and coming back in the game, just really proud of her,” Shapiro Ord said. “She’s a worker.”

In the second period, junior guard Clare Traeger put two buckets past Vermont to narrow the lead down to two, but Vermont continued to make shots and regained its six-point lead with four minutes to go. That was when senior guard Hayley Moore splashed home a 3-pointer, spurring a 13-5 run to bring Binghamton back in front by two going into the break. This was the senior Bearcat’s 100th and final game for BU.

“Instead of getting frustrated when [Moore] didn’t get to play her freshman year, she just put her head down,” Shapiro Ord said. “And that’s what she did to get where she is, she is not just a shooter. Defensively, she was terrific for us the last couple of years. She’s just a worker.”

Binghamton used that momentum to hold the Catamounts off in the penultimate quarter. Bowman scored seven points and dished out two assists in the period as BU increased its lead to six. The Bearcats shot an efficient 63.6 percent from the field in the third but took five fewer attempts than Vermont after turning the ball over five times in the frame.

“The tough thing for us for the game was you can’t give a team [24] points off turnovers,” Shapiro Ord said. “That broke our back right there.”

In the fourth quarter, the Catamounts continuously chipped away at the Binghamton lead, but it wasn’t until the four-minute mark that the hosts took their first lead since the second quarter. After Vermont took a nine-point advantage with 47 seconds to go, BU scored eight points in a flurry, but the hosts hit a string of crucial free throws late to stay ahead, ending the Bearcats’ season. UVM scored 25 points in the fourth quarter, more than doubling Binghamton’s 11-point tally.

Bowman led the way with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 53.3 percent shooting. After junior forward Birna Benonysdottir got into foul trouble, junior forward Jalyn Van Dyke was forced into more action. She was just behind Bowman with 16 points. Moore finished the last game of her BU career with 10 points.

“[Van Dyke] came in ready to play and we needed not just [Bowman] and [Benonysdottir] to score for us,” Shapiro Ord said. “We had three which is awesome.”

The Bearcats won four of five games to end the regular season. Their only loss in that stretch was also to the Catamounts.

“They really do truly love each other and they’re just such a good chemistry, they’re just a great group,” Shapiro Ord said. “I love their effort — they never give up.”