VESTAL, N.Y. – Saturday was supposed to be a day of celebration for the Binghamton University women’s basketball team, which was playing its first home game in the new $33.1 million BU Events Center.

The UMaine women spoiled the party.

The Black Bears held the Bearcats scoreless for the first 6 minutes, 50 seconds of the game and went on to build a substantial first half lead on their way to a 64-43 America East victory.

UMaine, which improved to 15-5 overall, 10-0 in conference play with its 10th consecutive win, placed four players in double figures.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s squad now has won 26 straight America East regular season games. UMaine has extended its lead in league play to three games over second-place Hartford, which lost to Boston University on Saturday.

Heather Ernest, Melissa Heon, Kim Corbitt and Missy Traversi connected for 11 points each as the Bears shot 41 percent from the field and converted 19 of 21 free throws.

Ernest, a senior from Temple, grabbed a team-high six rebounds, Heon posted five rebounds and three steals, and Corbitt handed out three assists. UMaine outrebounded Binghamton 40-24.

The Bears also received nine points and five rebounds from Monica Peterson while Julie Veilleux of Augusta added seven points and four boards.

Rachel Laws paced Binghamton (11-7, 6-4 AE) with 15 points and eight rebounds. Leala Wegwerth chipped in with 11 points for the Bearcats, who have lost three in a row.

The offense came slowly for both teams Saturday. UMaine suffered through a scoring drought of almost five minutes and led 6-0 when Kristin Hibler made a layup for Binghamton’s first points with 13:10 left in the first half.

The Bears then put together a 12-1 scoring run to take charge. Heon hit a jumper, before Traversi hit four foul shots 1:10 apart. Corbitt followed with a 3-pointer to give UMaine a 15-2 lead with 11:01 remaining in the half.

Jen Haubrich made one free throw for the hosts, but Ernest’s 3-pointer pushed the Bears’ bulge to 15. The Bearcats couldn’t get closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

UMaine went into the locker room with a 33-21 halftime lead and preserved it by limiting Binghamton to five field goals in the second half.

Ernest scored four points as the Bears extended the bulge to 19 points, before the Bearcats made a final challenge. Laws scored five straight points, three of them from the foul line, then Hibler hit a layup to cut the deficit to 42-30 with 9:49 to play.

However, UMaine rattled off the next seven points and wasn’t threatened again.

BLACK BEARS 64, BINGHAMTON 43

Maine women (15-5) Binghamton (11-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ernest 4 11 2 2 11 Wegwerth 4 11

Veilleux 2 5 2 2 7 Hibler 2 6 8

Schrader 1 1 2 3 4 Blues 0 6 0

Heon 5 10 0 0 11 Laws 4 7 7 12 15

Corbitt 2 4 6 6 11 Townley 1 4 2

Traversi 3 8 4 4 11 Scordino 0 0

Underwood 0 2 0 0 0 Deemand 0 1 0

Hugstd-Vaa 0 1 0 0 0 Haubrich 1 3

Jay 0 0 0 0 0 Lindgren 1 5 2

Barker 0 1 0 0 0 Thompson 0 0

Peterson 3 6 3 4 9 Dypolt 1 1 2

Forkey 0 0 0 0

Bartula 0 0 0 0

Totals 20 49 19 21 64 Totals 14 44 14 22 43

Maine 33 64

Binghamton 21 43

3-pt. goals ? Maine (5-15): Ernest 0-1, Veilleux 1-2, Heon 1-4, Corbitt 1-1, Traversi 1-4, Underwood 0-2, Barker 0-1; Binghamton (1-9): Wegwerth 1-1, Blues 0-4, Scordino 0-1, Deemand 0-1, Lindgren 0-2

Attendance: 2,464