SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Junior Imani Stepney (Willingboro, N.J.)turned in a double-double effort of 14 points and 10 boards, but it was not enough as the Bentley Falcons defeated No. 20 American International College, 72-65, in Northeast-10 women's basketball action this afternoon from the Butova Gymnasium.
AIC drops to 15-2 overall and 8-2 in conference play while the Falcons improve to 13-3 on the season and 7-3 in the NE-10.
The Jackets used an 11-3 run during the middle portion of the opening quarter to grab the 11-5 edge after back-to-back buckets from freshman Dana Watts (Rochesterm, N.Y.) at the 4:04 mark.
The Falcons responded using an 8-0 run of their own to take the 15-3 lead, however, senior Ebony Easter (San Antonio, Tx.) closed the period with five straight including dialing in from distance with just seconds remaining for the 18-15 lead after the first.
Aided by five points from sophomore Trevena Bennett (Union, N.J.), Bentley came out in the second and used another 8-0 spurt to take the 23-18 advantage at the 6:01 mark.
Later in the quarter senior Brianna Bishop (Suffield, Conn.) connected with five-straight points to pull the game even again at 30-30 with 2:28 to play in the first half, however, the Falcons responded with a pair from behind the arc on back-to-back trips down the floor to regain a six point edge and went into the locker room holding the 36-32 lead.
After a slow start to the third quarter Stepney ignited an 11-3 run after converting the hoop and the harm at the 6:36 mark and after Bishop hit a pair from the charity stripe, the Jackets held the 43-41 edge with three minutes left in the stanza. But, on the back of a couple three's Bentley clawed back to take the 48-47 lead after three quarters in a back-and-forth affair.
Senior Kamika Mason (Long Beach, Calif.) tied the contest early in the fourth at 51-51, but the Falcons used a 9-2 burst including four-straight from junior Jen Gemma (Milton, Mass.) to gain the 60-53 margin tying their largest of the game with 3:41 left on the clock.
Stepney again led the charge with another traditional three point play and a pair of free-throws by both Mason and Bishop got the hosts to within three at 63-60 with 1:20 left on the clock.
However, freshman Megan Lewis (Sevenoaks, England) hit a big three and cashed in twice from the free-throw line to sandwich a Bishop trey and after two freebies by Watts it was again a three-point advantage for Bentley, 68-65, with ten seconds remaining.
The Falcons then hit four more from the stripe and a last second bid from AIC fell short for the final score.
Bishop added 14 points while Watts turned in 12 for the hosts. Lewis led all scorers with 17 including 10 in the fourth quarter and Gemma and Bennett added 13 and 10, respectively.
Bentley shot 19-for-49 (38.8 percent) and controlled the glass 40-34 while the Jackets managed 23-of-68 (33.8 percent) from the field. The Falcons were also 11-for-21 (52.4 percent) from behind the arc.
AIC will conclude their mini three-game home stretch on Wednesday evening as they host Saint Anselm for a 5:30 p.m. affair.
