WALTHAM, Mass. The No. 2 seeded American International College women's basketball team fell to No. 6 New York Institute of Technology in NCAA East Region Semifinal action Saturday night at the Dana Center, 73-69.
With the loss, AIC ends the season 26-6 overall. The 26 wins ties the 2006 National Finalist team for most wins a season.
After a thrilling come-from-behind win in Friday's quarterfinal against Bloomfield, it took the Yellow Jackets just 2:01 of game clock to get an edge in the semis. AIC senior Brianna Bishop (Suffield, Conn.) knocked down her first 3-pointer attempt of the game, a corner shot to push AIC ahead, 5-3.
Jacket senior Kamika Mason (Long Beach, Calif.) made consecutive buckets, one from outside and the latter a drive down the lane for the easy finish. In a back-and-forth first frame, the Bears took a 19-17 advantage into the second.
American International got in a groove early in the second stanza. Freshman Alyssa Guyon (Ludlow, Mass.) provided solid minutes off the bench for Head Coach Kristen Hutchison. The rookie went to the rack and put up a shot through contact to knot the score at 19 apiece.
Bishop, who went scoreless in the opening half of Friday's game got going early Saturday, knocking down her first three from behind the arc. The veteran guard kicked off a 7-0 AIC run to take a 37-32 lead. Junior teammate Imani Stepney (Willingboro, N.J.) cleaned up a front-rimmed Bishop three and put it back, while freshman Dana Watts (Rochester, N.Y.) hit a pair from the charity stripe to cap off the go-ahead run.
AIC took a slim 39-38 lead into the intermission after Bear Shanice Allen made a corner three as time expired to cut the four point deficit to one at the break.
After a back-and-forth third, the Bears used a pair of treys from Allen and Julie Williams to regain the lead in the fourth, 64-62. The two had gone back-and-forth until the media timeout midway through the frame. Watts then went on a solo 4-0 run to pull the Jackets back ahead by two.
NYIT's Shanice Allen tied it for the 14th time at the 1:58 mark with a free throw at 69 apiece. Allen hit another for the go-ahead score with under two to play.
Neither team recorded a field goal in the final minutes, but the Bears were able to knock down three freebies to seal the win.
Mason finished with a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. The center finished the season with six straight double-doubles and 10 overall. Bishop and Watts chipped in 14 apiece. The game was tied for 9:00 minutes and featured 18 leads changes.
