Bearcats beat New Hampshire 67-59

DURHAM, N.H.-Freshman guard Rachel Laws (Wyncote, Pa.) had a career-high 14 points and eight rebounds and junior guard Kate Townley (St. Paul, Minn.) added a season-high 14 points, leading Binghamton (7-8, 3-2 AE) to a 67-59 win over New Hampshire (7-9, 2-3 AE) in an America East Conference game in Durham. The win marks the second straight time that the Bearcats have won on the Wildcats' home floor.

"I'm very proud of our team's effort today against a very good team on the road," associate head coach Rich Conover said. "It's a glimpse of what our team can accomplish if we stay focused.

For Laws, it marked her second strong showing this week. On Tuesday, she had a then career-high 12 points against Albany. In the past two games, Laws has averaged 13.0 points.

"Rachel has been pivotal for us this week," Conover said. "She has a unique ability to get to the basketball and her rebounding has been super."

Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Bearcats was freshman guard Jen Blues (Overland Park, Kan.), who netted 12 points. It marked the 10th time this season that she has scored at least 10 points.

The Bearcats started off strong, jumping out to an 18-12 lead in the opening nine minutes. Townley led the charge, hitting her first four shots of the game for eight points. The Wildcats, however, rallied to take a 37-34 lead with two minutes left to go in the half.

With time running out in the first half, the Wildcats were nursing a 39-38 lead. Townley, however, spotted sophomore center Dagmara Bartula (Carol Stream, Ill.) underneath the basket and fired a perfect pass to her. Bartula then shot the ball off the glass and in the net with two seconds left, giving Binghamton a 40-39 lead at the break.

In the second half, New Hampshire came out strong, surging to a 49-44 lead with 14:36 left to go. The Bearcats, however, refused to quit, as they went on an 12-0 run in a span of 6:12 to reclaim the lead, 60-53 with 5:45 left to go.

The Wildcats got the lead to within four, but freshman forward Jen Haubrich (Bow, N.H.), making a return to her home state, had three of her seven points in a span of 1:14, stretching the lead back to 63-56 with 2:36 left to go.

Binghamton returns home for a conference game Wednesday against Northeastern at 7 p.m. at West Gymnasium.