Box Score (PDF) | Interview

VESTAL, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell (4-23, 1-14) women's basketball team saw a 13-point slip away, and the Binghamton Bearcats (12-15, 7-7) escaped with a 55-52 win on Saturday afternoon.

 Lindsey Doucette (Hopkinton, Mass.) recorded her 19th career double-double with team highs 19 points and 12 rebounds. Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) added 12 points, and Oda Shackelford (Edinburgh, Ind.) tied her career high with eight points while setting a career-high with eight rebounds. The guests outrebounded Binghamton by a margain of 51-34. 

"This was a game where we just beat ourselves," said Head Coach Jenerrie Harris. "This was definitely a game we should have won, and we had an opportunity to win. It was the same type of game as Binghamton at home, this was our ninth game this season that we had a chance to win in the fourth quarter."

Behind a third quarter in which the River Hawks outscored the Bearcats, 17-8, the guests built up a 40-27 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. In the third UMass Lowell took the first double digit lead for either team at 38-26 with 2:06 remaining, thanks to a three-point play from Shackelford. The freshman added two more from the charity stripe with 38 clicks left in the third to cap off the scoring.

The Bearcats cut the lead to nine points just 3:33 into the quarter, but Nicole Hayner (Bedford, N.H.) knocked down a corner three with 7:17 on the clock to extend the advantage to 43-31. With her team trailing by 10, 45-35, Imani Watkins score eight consecutive points to bring Binghamton within two, and Alyssa James tied the game at 45-45 with 4:09 left.

Both teams traded baskets down the stretch with Shackelford scoring three points in a minute span, giving the River Hawks the lead back at 52-50 with 42 clicks on the clock. Binghamton scored the final five points, going 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the last 12 seconds. Doucette had a chance to force overtime but her three hit the rim, banked off the glass and glanced the rim again before falling to the floor.

Doucette connected on two three-pointers and Katherine Smith added a jumper as the River Hawks jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 8-5 early in the first quarter. Melissa Frase (Tamworth, N.H.) and Gibbs scored back-to-back baskets early in the second to put UMass Lowell back on top at 12-11 with 8:02 left in the half. Doucette converted a traditional three-point play to hand the River Hawks a 17-14 advantage with 5:29 on the clock.

Watkins scored five consecutive points for the hosts and they reclaimed the lead at 19-17 with just under four minutes to play in the half. UMass Lowell ended the opening 20 minutes on a 7-0 run, capped off by Doucette and Gibbs scoring with under a minute to play, sending the the River Hawks into the locker room on top 23-19.

Trailing 25-19 1:40 into the second half, the Bearcats scored their first point since there was 3:49 left in the first half, as Alyssa James hit one free throw. Kim Albrecht and Rebecca Carmody powered Binghamton within, 27-24, but Gibbs scored four straight points to regain the seven-point edge at 31-24 with 4:57 left in the third frame.

Watkins scored a game-high 21 points, and James chipped in 18 with 10 rebounds. James also registered four blocks and four steals.

The River Hawks wrap up the 2016 season with a road tilt against UAlbany, on February 25 at 7 p.m.