Binghamton Post Game Interview

VESTAL, NY—Monday night's women's basketball game in upstate New York between NJIT and Binghamton couldn't have been much closer, but when the final horn sounded it was the Bearcats holding a 54-50 victory over the visiting Highlanders.
 
Women's college basketball is played in four 10-minute quarters starting this season, departing from the traditional two 20-minute halves, and all four quarters Monday were tight. The victorious Bearcats held a 12-11 lead after one quarter and they extended their advantage slightly with a 16-13 second quarter that gave Binghamton a 28-24 lead at the halftime break. The final two quarters were even closer, with each team scoring 12 in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth.
 
Binghamton, now 1-1 after having lost its opener over the weekend at Michigan on Saturday, got 15 points and 9 rebounds from sophomore Alyssa James and a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds from sophomore Imani Watkins.
 
NJIT's two top scorers put up the same totals as the Binghamton scoring leaders. The leader for NJIT was junior guard Olivia Dudley, who came off the bench for 15 points in 25 minutes of action and Camerin Spahn, also a junior, finished with 14 points for the Highlanders.
 
Both of the top scorers are in new roles this year for NJIT (0-1). Dudley, who joined the Highlanders last season as a transfer, played in 18 games for a total of 150 minutes as a sophomore. And Spahn was in 28 games, starting four last season,
 
This year, with four of the top five scorers graduated from last season's 12-17 team, Dudley and Spahn both figure to be more prominent members of the playing rotation.
 
Olivia Dudley's 25 minutes played and 15 points in the opening game were both career highs for the junior, exceeding her sophomore highs of 18 minutes and 6 points.
 
Spahn, who started against Binghamton, matched her personal scoring high with 14 points Monday night. She netted 14 points last year against Division III St. Joseph's (VT) and her previous high vs. a Division I foe was 8 last January against Columbia and 8 vs. VCU when she was a freshman. Her 8 rebounds Monday night were also a new personal-best and tops for NJIT Monday night.
 
Another Highlander who should play a much more important role this season is 6-foot-5 sophomore Maria Ruban, who set a new personal high when she pulled down 12 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench against Binghamton.
 
Ruban, who has improved steadily since she came to NJIT in 2013-14 and redshirted, got a high of 8 rebounds last season vs. Maryland Eastern Shore. Her 8 points vs. Binghamton were the second-highest total of her career. She scored 12 against small-college St. Joseph's (VT) and her previous best scoring game vs. a Division I opponent was 5 points vs. Maryland Eastern Shore late last February.
 
Senior Ronni Grandison also scored 8 points for the Highlanders against the Bearcats in the 2015-16 opener for the Highlanders.
 
It was a difficult scoring night for NJIT's top two returning scorers, senior Leah Horton and junior Alana Dudley, who is teammate Olivia Dudley's younger sister. Horton, who averaged a team-best 10.1 points per game last season and Alana, who averaged 7.2 points, were both held scoreless in the new season's first game. However, Horton help NJIT win the battle on the boards with 6 of NJIT's 43 rebounds and Alana Dudley's four assists were tied for game-high with Binghamton's Watkins.
 
The biggest lead for either team was a 28-22 advantage for the Bearcats with 1:20 left in the second quarter.
 
NJIT took what would be its biggest lead, 18-14, after Olivia Dudley's 3-pointer with 7:37 remaining in the second quarter. But Binghamton went on a 10-4 run to take a 28-22 lead with 1:20 left in the first half. Watkins capped the run with a 3-pointer for the Bearcats. The Highlanders, however, got to within 28-24 at the half after Grandison made a layup at the 28-second mark of the period.
 
Given the nip-and-tuck nature of the contest, a key point with 7:57 left in the third period and the Bearcats clinging to a 28-27 lead. Horton's layup attempt for NJIT was blocked by James, who also grabbed the defensive rebound. Horton was then whistled for a technical foul. Watkins made the ensuing two free throws to spark a 6-1 Binghamton run that put the home team ahead 34-28 with 5:39 left in the third quarter.
 
NJIT pulled back to within two points on a layup for Spahn, but the Bearcats took a 40-36 advantage into the last quarter.
 
Olivia Dudley opened the fourth period with a 3-pointer that got NJIT within a point of the lead. Indeed, the Highlanders closed to within a point two more times, but they never got over the hump, falling short at the end, 54-50.
 
Binghamton turned the ball over just nine times in the game and the Bearcats enjoyed a 14-4 lead in points-off-turnovers, more than double their actually winning margin of four points.
 
NJIT will return to Newark and play its opening home game in the Fleisher Athletic Center on Thursday in a 5 pm start against Lehigh as the first half of a doubleheader with the Highlanders men's team, which faces Boston University at 7:30 pm.
 
Special ceremonies commemorating the men's team's run to the semifinals of the national CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament last March will precede the men's game vs. BU.