QUEENS, N.Y. The American International College women's basketball team downed nationally ranked No. 15 Queens College (N.Y.) Saturday afternoon at Fitzgerald Gymnasium, 59-54.
With the win AIC improves to 6-0 overall and has defeated 3-of-4 ranked teams dating back to last season's Northeast-10 Championship tournament when they dropped No. 12 Stonehill and No. 21 New Haven in consecutive games.
After falling down 11-0 and held scoreless by the Knights for the opening 3:50 of play, Yellow Jacket senior guard Brianna Bishop (Suffield, Conn.) broke AIC onto the board with a lay-in to halt the Queens run.
Jacket senior Ebony Easter (San Antonio, Texas) capped an 11-2 AIC run to knot the score at 13 all with 3:00 to play in the opening quarter. Classmate Kamika Mason (Long Beach, Calif.) hit the next bucket to give American International their first lead near the end of the first frame.
The Yellow Jackets took a 17-15 lead into the second quarter and held their advantage throughout the next stanza. Bishop hit a pair of free throws to end the half and take a 31-26 edge into the break.
Mason hit a go-ahead free throw to make it 40-39 AIC in the third. Easter, freshman Dana Watts (Rochester, N.Y.) and Bishop added three straight buckets for AIC to make it an 8-0 run and head into the final frame up, 46-39. The Jackets defense held the Knights scoreless over the final 3:52 of the third, forcing four turnovers and holding them to 0-2 from the floor over that span.
American International held a lead throughout the entirety of the fourth, but not before Queens made a late run. Knight Madison Rowland brought it within three, knocking down a trey with under a minute to go, 57-54, but Bishop hit all four of her free throws attempts in the final minute to help seal the victory.
Bishop finished with a team-high 20 points, while Watts again provided big minutes off the bench for Head Coach Kristen Hutchison. Watts dropped 14 points and grabbed seven boards to go along with three steals in reserve action. Mason chipped in 12 points, while Easter was 3-3 from the floor and hit both of her free throws to finish with eight and three boards.
The swarming Jacket defense forced 24 turnovers and scored 18 points off them.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Saturday, Dec. 12 when they travel to Le Moyne College for a Northeast-10 Southwest Division tilt. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 p.m. with the Dolphins from Syracuse, N.Y.
