On Saturday afternoon, the Binghamton women’s basketball team secured a 68-48 win on senior day against NJIT. After maintaining a comfortable lead for the majority of the contest, the Bearcats made the most of their late-game surge over the Highlanders to claim the victory.

“I really never say hit your shots, but I say share the basketball, and they did a tremendous job making that extra pass,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “You could see by all our 14 assists … They were just very confident with their shooting … They were knocking them down, which is great.”

Binghamton (11-15, 6-7 America East [AE]) got on the board early with two quick layups from graduate student guard Denai Bowman. However, NJIT (9-16, 1-11 AE) responded, going on a 10-2 run to take a 10-6 lead. After some back and forth, BU gained some momentum ending the period on a 10-0 run, including two three point baskets from sophomore guard/forward Camryn Fauria, sophomore guard Meghan Casey and freshman guard Bella Pucci. Going into the second period, the Bearcats clutched an 18-12 lead.

“We talked about some adjustments we had to make,” Shapiro Ord said. “We talked about getting stops — to keep attacking, [and] not letting up. [We mentioned] attacking both ends, and we did that offensively and defensively.”

BU maintained the momentum to sustain a comfortable lead as quick baskets from Fauria and junior forward Genevieve Coleman made it a 22-12 game. Despite some pushback from the Highlanders, BU stayed ahead as a jump shot from Bowman made it a 12-point game at 32-20. With baskets traded between both teams, BU went into halftime up 36-24.

“We have to focus on one game at a time,” Shapiro Ord said.

Coming out of halftime, redshirt sophomore guard Jadyn Weltz found Coleman to start the scoring for BU in the third period. The Bearcats and Highlanders went neck to neck in the quarter, as the visitors cut the lead to seven at 40-33, midway through the period. However, Binghamton kept some distance, with a three-pointer from Coleman as the squad took a 47-38 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

“We saw in the games earlier in the season that we had a tendency not to completely give up, but our offense really slowed down in the second [half],” Coleman said. “I think as we worked on it in practice, we really hounded on keeping that momentum from first to second half and just knowing your teammates — knowing when to cut and knowing how they play is a big aspect in our game.”

Binghamton’s momentum persisted against the Highlanders in the final period. The Bearcats put the game out of reach when they went on a 17-0 run to take a 68-46 lead. Weltz netted six points and Casey scored five points during that stretch. When the final buzzer sounded, BU came out on top, defeating NJIT 68-48.

“We emphasized just the continual attacking,” Shapiro Ord said. “That has to be our mindset. These ladies know that their destiny is in their hands.”

Fauria led the Bearcats with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Behind her was Coleman with nine points. Weltz added eight points, five rebounds and four assists in the winning effort. As a team, the Bearcats shot 46.7 percent from the field while holding the Highlanders to just 30.5 percent shooting from the field.

“My point guard [Weltz] — when she dribbles the ball down the court, she is looking for me every single time and I appreciate that more than she knows,” Coleman said. “Having her on the floor, looking for me, [getting] ball to me, [passing] and finishing it — that’s all her.”

The Bearcats will remain at home to take on UMass Lowell on Thursday, Feb. 22 to finish off their final home stretch of the regular season. Tipoff is set for 6:07 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.