ALBANY, New York Senior forward Dana Watts put on a show, scoring a career-best 37 points in a 68-55 win over The College of Saint Rose in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup on Wednesday, February 20, clinching a berth in the conference's championship tournament.

FAST FACTS:
Final Score:AIC 68, Saint Rose 55
Record:The Yellow Jackets now stand at 15-11 overall and 10-8 in NE10 play; Saint Rose drops to 11-14 overall and 4-14 in the NE10.
Location:Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium, Albany, New York

STAT LEADERS:
AIC:
Dana Watts: 37 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, two blocks
Alyssa Guyon: 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks
Zoe Willis: Eight points, three rebounds, two assists

Saint Rose:
Ashley Vanderwall: 13 points
Karissa Birthwright: 11 points
Courtney Clasen: Nine points, four assists

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After the Golden Knights won the opening tip and scored on the first possession of the game, the two squads traded baskets, with AIC taking its first lead of the afternoon when rookie guard Zoe Willis hit a three from the right corner at 3:30 to start a run; the Yellow Jackets led 11-4 after Watts and Alyssa Guyon sank jumpers on back-to-back possessions, forcing a Saint Rose timeout at 4:54.
• Saint Rose broke the run out of the timeout, but AIC responded immediately with a layup by Watts, and then Watts hit an and-one on the rebound of a Guyon miss to bring the lead to double digits at 5:49. The Golden Knights finally came to life with a five-point run of their own, and added to it with a three from Courtney Clasen to cut AIC's edge to two, but Watts drained a buzzer-beating three from the right wing to put her team up 19-14 at the first break.
• Watts kept surging in the second, starting the scoring with a fast-break layup after making a defender miss; Willis then restored the double-digit edge with a left-corner three two possessions later, and Watts drove through the defense to extend the edge further with another layup. Willis drained another layup to push AIC's advantage to 28-14 midway through the frame.
• The Golden Knights began to claw back, putting together a 10-3 run that was only interrupted by a Guyon three to cut the deficit to 31-24; Watts sank four free throws, but the Golden Knights sank a three at the buzzer to get within 10 and head into the break down 35-27.
• Guyon started the scoring in the second half with a running layup, but the Golden Knights hit a three off of a steal on AIC's next possession to shrink the lead further. However, the Yellow Jackets made a few stops and returned to a double-digit advantage as Watts dished to the left wing for a Guyon three. Watts then sank a deep shot of her own to respond to a Saint Rose layup.
• Saint Rose kept hanging around in the game, but junior guard Nadia Wooten hit her first shot of the game, a three from the left wing, to push AIC to a 46-34 edge. After a Saint Rose free throw, sophomore Destine Perry joined the scoring with a three of her own. Watts added three more points on a free throw and a jumper, and AIC took a timeout with 1:32 left in the third and a 52-35 lead. Saint Rose hit a jumper, but Watts sank a three; Saint rose drained a three at the other end, and a Perry free throw closed out the scoring in the third with a 56-40 AIC lead.
• The Golden Knights scored six points to get back within 10 to start the fourth quarter, drawing an AIC timeout just 1:49 into the frame. The stoppage did not help, as Saint Rose went in on a fast break to score again. Watts broke the streak with another layup, but Saint Rose quickly struck again, cutting the lead to just 59-50.
• Watts took matters into her own hands, generating five straight points for the Yellow Jackets to extend the advantage to 64-50 with just under three minutes to play. Wooten added a layup, and then Watts sank another. From there, the Yellow Jackets hung on, winning 68-55.

BUZZWORTHY:

• AIC had seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter.
• Watts set a new career high with her 37 points; her previous high had been 35 in a game against Pace on November 29, 2017.
• The team's +22 rebound margin is a new season high, eclipsing the 21 that AIC had against Saint Rose on November 17, 2018 and against Bridgeport on January 3, 2019.

MILESTONE WATCH

• Watts is second in career points with 2,135 points, behind only Juana Garcia with 2,189 points.
• Watts is also behind only Garcia in rebounds. Watts is currently at 1,132 career rebounds, while Garcia sits on the top with 1,223.
• Watts passed Garcia for the program's record for defensive rebounds with 755 defensive boards for her career.
• Watts is currently third in AIC history for field goals made with 725, sitting behind Sharmion Selman (827) and Garcia (894).
• Watts is in sole possession of the free throws made record with 587 in 111 games. Head coachKristen Hutchisonis second on the list with 511 made free throws in 120 games.

NEXT UP:

• The Yellow Jackets return home to take on the University of New Haven on Saturday, February 23 at 1:30 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC women's basketball team, follow@AICWBBonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Women's BasketballonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.