NEW HAVEN, Conn. The American International College women's basketball team improved to 3-0 with a Northeast-10 Conference road victory at Southern Connecticut State University Tuesday evening at Moore Field House, 67-51.
The Yellow Jackets won its third straight to open the season 3-0 both overall and in Southwest Division contests. SCSU fell to 3-2 and 0-2 in league games. The Jackets are winning their games by an average of 20.3 points.
AIC was in a battle in the first half, taking a one-point advantage into the break, but flew past the Owls in the second half by a margin of 42-27.
Yellow Jacket freshman guard Jayda Gilmore (Elkridge, Md.) used a traditional three-point play to end the first quarter and give AIC the lead, 15-12. Senior guard Brianna Bishop (Suffield, Conn.) hit a trey out of the break to cap an eight-point AIC run and give the Jackets their largest lead of the half with six (18-12), but the Owls hung around with 10 Jackie Beathea points.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, AIC with 35.7 percent from the floor while holding SCSU to 33.3 percent. Beathea grabbed seven rebounds, while AIC junior Imani Stepney (Willingboro, N.J.) had five. Nine Jackets had a rebound in the first half in total.
Head Coach Kristen Hutchison's squad came out of the break and quickly jumped back up by six with a senior Kamika Mason (Long Beach, Calif.) lay-in and another Bishop three to force an Owl timeout just 1:44 into the second half. Bishop hit three three's in the third quarter and converted 5-7 from long range overall to finish with a game-high 23 points.
AIC senior Sydney Tepley (Racine, Wis.) and Mason both pushed the deficit to 10 points in the third, but SCSU hung around. AIC took a 49-42 lead into the final quarter. So. Connecticut got as close as eight, 57-49, but the Yellow Jackets closed out the game on a 10-2 run over the final 3:21 of regulation.
Jacket senior Ebony Easter (San Antonio, Texas) came in off the bench and provided a great defensive spark, forcing four Owl turnovers and grabbing three rebounds. Freshman Dana Watts (Rochester, N.Y.) provided a great offensive threat off the bench, chipping in nine points.
American International shot much better in the second half, going 13-27 from the floor, while defensively holding SCSU to 9-28 and 18-55 for the contest. Stepney led AIC on the glass with seven rebounds.
AIC returns to action Monday, Dec. 1 when they travel to the University of Bridgeport for a non-conference tilt with the Purple Knights. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.
