WEST HAVEN, Conn. Senior classmates Brianna Bishop (Suffield, Conn.) and Kamika Mason (Long Beach, Calif.) combined for 23 fourth quarter points to help American International College come from behind to defeat New Haven, 67-52, in Northeast-10 women's basketball action this evening fromthe Charger Gymnasium.
AIC improves to 18-4 overall and 11-4 in conference play with the victory while the Chargers drop to 10-11 on the year and 6-9 in NE-10 action.
After being outscored 17-5 in the third quarter, the Jackets trailed 43-35 entering the fourth. However, Bishop ignited the offense with back-to-back trey's early on followed by a Mason lay-up which gave the visitors a 45-44 lead at the 6:55 mark. A lead they would never relinquish as AIC outscored New Haven 32-9 in the final frame including runs of 10-0 and 12-0 before connecting on six consecutive from the charity stripe for the final score.
Bishop finished with a team high 18 points while Mason added 15 and 12 boards and freshman Dana Watts (Rochester, N.Y.) chipped in a silent 17 and finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
After the teams played an even first quarter and UNH clung to a slim two-point edge it was AIC using an 11-0 outburst to open the second and grab the 27-18 advantage at the 4:05 mark after a lay-up from Mason.
Freshman Jayda Gilmore (Elkridge, Md.) collected five points during that spurt including dialing in from long range for the first AIC triple in the game at the 8:13 mark.
The Chargers closed the gap slightly heading into the break as Lauren Hebert (North Reading, Mass.) scored four straight points during a mini 6-0 run, but the hosts were doubled up (14-7) for the quarter and the Jackets took the 30-25 lead into the intermission.
New Haven came out of the locker room clicking on all cylinders and outscored AIC 17-5 in the third quarter including a 13-0 run midway through the frame. Hebert netted six points in the quarter while Briana Bradford (Waterbury, Conn.) added 10 of her own.
Hebert finished with a game-high 22 while Bradford added 18 for the Chargers. AIC shot 38 percent from the floor (24-for-63) while New Haven went 19-for-62 (30 percent) for the game. The visitors also controlled the glass 49-37.
American International returns to action as they host Le Moyne for a 1:30 p.m. tip on Saturday.
