VESTAL, N.Y. – The University of Maine women’s basketball team flirted with an upset Saturday afternoon, but Binghamton weathered a second-half charge to beat the Black Bears 69-64 in America East action at the Events Center.

Despite making the trip with only eight players, including Ashley Underwood (ankle sprain) and Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa, who was coming off a bout with the flu, UMaine fought hard.

UMaine led with 9:04 remaining and was tied with 7:59 to play, but couldn’t sustain its play down the stretch.

It was the fourth straight loss for coach Ann McInerney’s Bears (6-14 overall, 2-7 AE), who have now dropped nine consecutive games on the road.

Binghamton improved to 13-7 and 6-3, respectively.

Junior Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor paced UMaine with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds. Underwood, a junior from Benton, finished with 14 points and a career-best nine assists.

Abby Schrader posted 12 points, while Margaret Elderton netted 10 points and made three steals. Colleen Kilmurray grabbed eight rebounds.

Laine Kurpniece led the Bearcats with 20 points, while Laura Sario tallied 13 and Laura Franceski nine. Binghamton was without all-conference forward Rachel Laws, who has missed the last five games with an ankle injury.

The hosts claimed a 37-32 rebounding edge and outshot the Bears 23-21 from the foul line.

Binghamton built a 12-point, first-half advantage behind Kurpniece, who scored 12 points, and led 31-24 at intermission.

UMaine kept it close early in the second half as Elderton hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Kris Younan followed with another to get the Bears within four at 40-36 with 15:47 to play.

UMaine later embarked on an 11-2 scoring run. Barker opened the surge with a three-point play, then Schrader made a layup to cut the deficit to 43-41.

Juta Jahilo scored from inside for Binghamton, but Underwood’s layup, Schrader’s low-post basket, and a jumper by Underwood gave the Bears 47-45 lead with 9:04 left.

The Bearcats countered with their own 11-2 run to regain the momentum. Sario hit two 3-pointers during the stretch as Binghamton went back in front 56-49 with 5:57 remaining.

UMaine suffered through a stretch during which it went 0-for-5 from the field and committed a turnover. The Bears clawed back within four at 59-55 and 66-62, but weren’t able to close the gap further.

The Bears return to action Saturday at Albany.

BEARCATS 69, BLACK BEARS 64

Maine (6-14) Binghamton (13-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Barker 7 15 5 5 21 Haubrich 0 0

Schrader 5 11 2 3 12 Kurpniece 5 10 11 20

Younan 1 4 2 2 5 Sario 4 9 13

Underwod 3 12 8 8 14 Blues 2 8 8

Elderton 3 8 2 3 10 Kenny 2 6 5

Hugstd-Va 0 3 1 2 1 Jahilo 3 8 8

Bowen 0 0 0 0 0 Lindgren 0 4

Kilmurray 0 1 1 2 1 Thompsn 1 1 2

Franceski 3 7 9

Totals 19 54 21 25 64 Totals 20 51 23 28 69

Maine 24 64

Binghamton 31 69

3-pt. goals – Maine (5-13): Barker 2-3, Younan 1-3, Underwood 0-4, Elderton 2-3; Binghamton (6-16): Sario 3-5, Blues 2-6, Kenny 1-3, Lindgren 0-2

Attendance: 2,236