For Immediate Release: February 23, 2008
Contact: David O'Brian (dobrian@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6478

Binghamton women's basketball rallies for 64-57 win over Maine

Box Score

VESTAL, N.Y.- Senior center Laine Kurpniece (Riga, Latvia) scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, leading Binghamton (9-16, 7-5 AE) to a 64-57 win over Maine (7-19, 4-9 AE) on Saturday afternoon at the Events Center. The Bearcats have now won two of their past three games.

With 6:37 left in regulation, things looked grim for the Bearcats, who were trailing 46-40. Over the ensuing 4:40, however, Binghamton went on a game-changing 17-0 run to take a commanding 57-46 lead. Kurpniece scored nine of her points during that span, grabbed a rebound and recorded a pair of steals. Senior guard Laura Sario (Espoo, Finland), who finished with 12 points, chipped in five points during the run.

The Black Bears pulled to within 58-52 with 1:35 remaining but sophomore guard Muffy Sadler (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) went 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the final 1:16 to ice the victory.

Binghamton struggled in the first half and trailed 20-18 at the break. In the opening 4:25 of the second half, the situation got even worse as Maine went on a 12-6 run to go up 32-22. Junior forward Colleen Kilmurray, who had a team-high 14 points, capped the spurt with a three pointer, prompting the Bearcats to call a time out.

Coming out of the time out, the Bearcats chipped away at the deficit, pulling to within 43-40 with 7:05 left to go. Senior guard Kris Younan, however, nailed a three-point shot at the 6:37 mark, which appeared to pad the lead for Maine. The Black Bears made only three field goals the rest of the game.

Senior guard Juta Jahilo (Helsinki, Finland) and sophomore guard Erica Carter (Naperville, Ill.) each added 10 points. Jahilo has now reached double figures in three consecutive games while Carter's double-figure scoring streak improves to eight consecutive contests.

Younan added 13 points for Maine.

Binghamton heads to Stony Brook on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game.

NOTES: The 10-point deficit for Binghamton represents its largest comeback win of the season ... Kurpniece and Kilmurray were named the America East Players of the Game ... Kurpniece now has 1,113 career points. She is the eighth player in school history to surpass the 1,100-point mark in scoring. Sario ranks ninth with 1,032 career points.