VESTAL, N.Y. - The UMBC women's basketball team played a hard-fought battle in its #AEHoops road finale on Wednesday night, but ultimately fell to the Binghamton Bearcats, 66-58. 

The Bearcats, who clinched the final home court spot in the America East playoffs next week, move to 20-8 overall and 9-6 in America East contests. The Retrievers fall to 10-16 on the season and 6-9 in conference play. 

Senior Te'yJah Oliver (Clinton, Md./RIverdale Baptist) led the Retrievers with 26 points, going 8-21 from the field, three of which were from three-point range, and a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. Junior Janee'a Summers chipped in an additional 14 points to go with her seven rebounds.

The Bearcats opened the third quarter with a 26-18 lead out of halftime. Senior Lucrezia Costa (Rome, Italy) made a layup to cut the lead down to six. Binghamton was able to extend its lead back out to 11, 33-22, with 6:35 to play before Oliver hit a pair of free throws to bring the score to 33-24. Binghamton scored the next five points before freshman Lyric Swann (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) hit a three and converted a set of free shots to cut Binghamton's lead to 38-29 with 4:42 to go. The Bearcats again extended their lead to 11, 40-29, at the 4:18 mark before the Retrievers began to slowly chip away. Summers and Oliver each made shots that cut the lead down to seven with 2:30 to go. Binghamton would make a layup to take a 42-33 lead with 2:11 on the clock but sophomore Paula Rubio (Madrid, Spain) made a jump shot and Oliver hit a three to cut it down to four, 42-38, with less than a minute left in the quarter. Binghamton scored the final three points, taking a 45-38 lead into the final quarter.

In the fourth, Binghamton opened their lead back to ten, 48-38, early in the period. The teams went back-and-forth before eight points from Oliver helped the Retrievers cut things to five, 51-46, with 7:37 to go. Summers hit two free throws to shorten the lead, even more, 51-48, before Binghamton pulled away by five with 4:50 to go. Oliver converted a three-point play to put the Retrievers within two, 53-51, at the 4:38 mark, but the Bearcats scored six-straight to take a 59-53 lead with 2:33 to play. UMBC was able to close the gap down to five again but down the stretch, Binghamton was able to make free throws for the 66-58 final.

The Bearcats opened the game up with five-straight points before sophomore Eryn Fisher (Perth, Australia) put the Retrievers on the board. Binghamton amassed a 10-4 lead by the 4:22 mark, but Swann hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead down to four. After the Bearcats went up 13-6, Summers scored on two possessions to cut it down to three, 13-10, with 2:13 to play. Binghamton made the final bucket at the 50-second mark, taking a 16-10 lead into the second quarter.

The Bearcats quickly opened a 10-point lead, 22-12, a little under two and a half minutes into the second quarter. After Binghamton took a 24-14 lead at the 6:41 mark, both teams were held scoreless for 2:20 until Oliver converted a pair of free throws with 3:20 left on the clock to cut the deficit to 24-16. Each team would only score once more as Binghamton went into halftime with a 28-18 lead after 20 minutes.

On the day, the Retrievers finished shooting 34.5 percent from the floor (20-58) and 93.3 percent (14-15) from the free throw line, while the Bearcats shot 35.6 percent (21-59) from the field and 81.8 percent (18-22) from the charity stripe.

Both teams were even in rebounds at 39, ending a four-game streak of the Retrievers outrebounding their opponents.

Binghamton's Kai Moon, who is the America East's leading scorer, led all players with 31 points (8-21, 4-13 3FG, 11-12 FT). Karlee Krchnavi (14) and Olivia Ramil (11) also put up double-digits for the Bearcats. 

The Retrievers will face its final regular-season opponent on Saturday, February 29 when the Maine Black Bears come to the UMBC Event Center for a 1 p.m. tip. Prior to the game, the team will honor its four graduating seniors: Costa, Tyler Moore, Oliver, and Dominika Skrocka.