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ALBANY – In the return of Siena women's basketball to MVP Arena after a four-year absence, visiting Binghamton was the team that looked more comfortable in the building – especially inside the 3-point line.
Bearcats forward Kendall Bennett had 27 points and 13 rebounds in a 79-73 victory over the Saints on Sunday in the America East-Metro Basketball Challenge.
Sophomore guard Francesca Schiro had 30 points for the Saints, who lost their second straight game to fall to 1-2.
"They continued to go to No. 4 (Bennett), and it took us too long to decide that we weren't going to let her be effective anymore," Siena coach Terry Primm said. "Once we did, I don't know if she touched the ball much down the stretch. But we've just got to play with a little more force. We've got to believe in what we're doing together. We can't separate and do it as individuals."
Binghamton outscored Siena 25-8 at the foul line and 42-26 in the paint, more than offsetting Siena's edge behind the 3-point line. The Saints shot 11-for-28 from beyond the arc, compared to the Bearcats' 2-for-11.
The Siena women played the second game of a doubleheader at MVP Arena with the Siena men, who beat Princeton 82-68 in the opener. Most of the men's crowd of 4,393 had filed out by the time the women's game began.
It was the Siena women's first time in the arena since a Nov. 16, 2022 loss to St. Bonaventure. They play their home games on campus at UHY Center.
"I mean, it was a cool experience," Schiro said. "I wish we had a couple more fans, but you know, we'll get there. But it was cool just to play in a big arena because it's always fun to do that. I enjoyed it."
Binghamton coach Mary (McKissack) Grimes entered familiar territory. As a Siena guard from 1999 to 2003, she played in MVP Arena many times in the regular season and the conference tournament.
"It definitely brought back some memories," Grimes said.
Of more immediate importance to Grimes was seeing her America East preseason favorite Bearcats (1-2) bounce back from lopsided losses to Coastal Athletic Association favorite Monmouth and three-time defending Metro champion Fairfield in their first two games.
"Talk about a buzzsaw," Grimes said. "But just being able to do what I asked, that was part of our film session is just we're doing things going rogue. We wanted to get it inside, whether we were driving or getting it to Kendall Bennett, and we were able to execute that game plan."
Binghamton's Bella Pucci added 22 points and five assists.
Siena led 62-59 before the Bearcats ripped off an 11-0 run to go ahead 70-62 with 3:31 to play.
Siena's Caydence Hadley finished with 12 points and a bandage on her chin.
"We just needed to be more physical to get the win," Hadley said. "At the end, it just kind of got away from us."
After scoring 43 points over her first two games, Siena guard Nicole Melious was held to five points on 2-of-13 shooting, including 1-for-9 on 3-pointers.
Siena will play Syracuse on Wednesday at JMA Wireless Dome.
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This article originally published at Siena women's basketball loses in return to MVP Arena.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/siena-womens-basketball-loses-return-013000381.html
