America East Basketball News and Notes: Women's Teams in the WNIT

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For the most part, the news and notes on this league are tailored toward the men’s side of things, but this time, a shout-out to the women’s side is well deserved. Three teams from the conference—NJIT, UMBC, and Binghamton—are competing in the 48-team WNIT field. All three won their first-round matchups and are moving on in the tournament.

We begin with NJIT (19–12). Last Thursday night, the Highlanders played their first-round game in North Andover, Massachusetts, against the Merrimack Warriors. The 68–65 victory marked the program’s first-ever postseason win. They have now reached 19 wins on the season, a new team high, and their ten road victories also set a program record. The Highlanders were led by a double-double from Ava Locklear, who recorded 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Alejandra Zuniga provided a game-high 20 points. NJIT utilized a 13–1 run over the final five minutes of the contest to secure the win. They will next meet Army in the second round at West Point. Army leads the all-time series 3–1, though NJIT won the last meeting 73–57 during the 2023–24 season. The Cadets sit at 24–7, their highest win total since 2015–16, and finished second in the Patriot League with a 14–4 conference record, landing six players on All-League teams.

UMBC (17–14) won their opening game of the event dramatically. After trailing by 17 points in the second quarter, the Retrievers battled back to force overtime and eventually defeated Ohio University 62–58. This marked UMBC’s first postseason win since a 2016 WNIT victory over Fairfield. Jade Tillman scored 13 points in the game, and her basket with 2:41 remaining gave UMBC its first lead of the night. Tillman has now reached double figures in 24 games this season and moves into seventh place on the program’s all-time single-season scoring list with 489 points. Their second-round game will also be on the road as they travel to face Marshall on Monday night.

Binghamton University (20–12) traveled to Mercyhurst University and earned an 81–60 win, marking the program’s third 20-win season since joining Division I. Four Bearcats finished in double figures, led by Kendall Bennett, who scored 23 points on a remarkable 11-of-12 shooting from the field. She added 16 rebounds to record her 20th double-double of the season. A 20–8 third-quarter surge proved to be the deciding factor in the contest. On Monday night, they head to Philadelphia to meet La Salle. These two programs have met six times in their history, with Binghamton winning four of those matchups, including the last three in a row. It has been a significant amount of time since their last meeting, which took place on December 30, 2013, in Hanover, New Hampshire, resulting in a 57–56 Bearcats victory.