2018 WBI 1st Round, Day 1 Recaps

Binghamton 70, Youngstown State 59 || Box score

Playing on the road over 350 miles away from their home gym was no big deal for Binghamton (20-11) as the Bearcats came from behind to beat Youngstown State 70-59 in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Wednesday night.

Led by senior guard Imani Watkins who finished with 27 points plus six rebounds, Binghamton earned a hard-fought win in the program’s first-ever Division I national postseason game. The victory gives the Bearcats 20 wins for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

Senior center Alyssa James finished with 18 points plus eight rebounds for Binghamton. Junior guard Jasmine Sina added 10 points and six assists.

Youngstown State finishes the season at 16-16. Junior guard Nikki Arbanas paced the Penguins with 16 points.

Binghamton will face Yale or Northeastern in the second round.

Fresno State 77, CSU Bakersfield 66 || Box score

Out West in California, Fresno State (17-14) followed in Binghamton’s footsteps by earning a 77-66 road win at CSU Bakersfield (18-14) in the WBI’s first round.

Candice White put on a blistering offensive performance for the Bulldogs. She finished with a game-high 29 points on 8-of-14 shooting. While CSU Bakersfield scored first, the Bulldogs quickly took over and led for most of the game. Fresno State went into halftime with a 43-32 lead.

The Bulldogs continued their momentum into the third quarter. However, CSU Bakersfield fought back in the last period with a 15-2 run to start the quarter. The game was tied 60 all with 4:47 left on the clock. White took over for Fresno State with back-to-back buckets giving her team the lead for the good.

Sophomore guard/forward Kristina Cavey was also in double figures for Fresno State with 15 points plus six rebounds. Freshman guard Aly Gamez added 12 points and five assists.

Junior guard Jazmine Johnson led CSU Bakersfield with 16 points and seven rebounds. Junior forward Malayasia McHenry scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds. Junior guard Alexxus Gilbert and freshman forward Vanessa Austin finished with 10 points each.

Fresno State will face either UC Irvine or Nevada in the second round on Monday.