DURHAM — No miracle comeback for the University of New Hampshire women's basketball team on Saturday.
Trailing Binghamton (N.Y.) by as much as 10 points in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats stormed back to tie the game in the final seconds only to see the visiting Bearcats hit a pair of free throws (following a controversial foul call) with 0.6 seconds to go. The final was a 54-52 Binghamton win.
"It was a tough way to lose," UNH coach Maureen Magarity said. "We made the big play when we needed to make the big play. (We) were really lucky to come back and make it that close. I never felt like we had the momentum in our favor."
It would have been the fifth time this season the Wildcats had rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win in dramatic fashion. Both teams are now 5-3 in America East and 14-7 overall.
"It kind of feels like the same story over and over again," said UNH's Kat Fogarty. "We come back at the end of games and play really, really hard. The best we play is toward the end of games. The problem is that it needs to be from the start of the game. We need to come out that way."
It was the second times this season the teams played a nail-biter — UNH escaped with a 63-61 win at the Bearcats' gym on Jan. 10.
Trailing by 11 points in the third quarter (40-29) and by as much as seven (52-45) with two minutes to go in the game, the Wildcats clawed their way back, capping the comeback with a layup by Brittni Lai — who had the game-winning bucket in the Jan. 10 game — with 19 seconds to play to make it 52-52.
At the other end of the court, Lai was called for a foul on a 3-point attempt by the Bearcats' Imani Watkins with 0.6 seconds to play. Watkins buried two of her three free throws to seal the win.
Watkins — currently the league leader in scoring — finished with 35 points and nine steals. No other Bearcat scored more than five points.
"It wasn't just her points and steals, it was her leadership," Binghamton coach Linda Cimino said about Watkins. "We knew we were either going to win in regulation or go to overtime. (We) said Imani's going to take it, so get out of her way and let her go. She wanted the ball and knew what to do with it."
Only four players scored for UNH — Fogarty led the way with 19 points, while Carlie Pogue had 14 and Olivia Healy had 13 to go with 10 rebounds. Brittni Lai added six points.
The Wildcats committed 18 turnovers.
"How we're turning the ball over right now is definitely something we need to figure out," Magarity said. "The talent we have, we're just not flowing offensively for some reason."
UNH led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter. In the second, Binghamton went on a 12-3 run, all but two of the buckets scored by Watkins. Watkins hit a jumper with two seconds to go in the half to give the Bearcats a 27-23 lead, which is where it stood at halftime.
UNH is at Hartford (Conn.) on Wednesday.