SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – The American International College women's basketball team rained an incredible number of threes down on Pace University in an 88-67 Northeast 10 conference win as Ruzgar Christina Boyle hit a program-best nine of the team's squad-record 17 long makes on Saturday, December 6.
AIC is now 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the NE10.
Boyle's first make came just seven seconds in after the Yellow Jackets won the tip, and Pace answered with a three of its own in a harbinger of things to come. AIC made its first six shots, all from range, with five out of Boyle's hand; she also set up the one that was not her, made by Tia-Marie Martinez.
AIC kept on pouring in shots, as Boyle had her sixth make at the 5:45 mark of the frame and AIC led 23-12. Down the stretch, more players became involved, with Sarai Gurley and Masha Andruschenko cashing in from beyond the arc, giving AIC a 33-18 edge after one.
Ahliya Phillips notched the first points of the second quarter, and Boyle picked up her seventh three of the game shortly after. Two possessions later, Eden Monka landed a shot that gave AIC its first 20-point lead, and Martinez followed with a triple from Chelsea Reeves to add more. In just 15 minutes, AIC had scored 46 points, doubling up the Setters.
Pace finally had a run of its own, cutting AIC's lead to 14 over the next 3:10, but Jemima Lacroix stopped the bleeding, and Keyvanna Bennett landed the last shot of the half, sending AIC to the locker room with a 50-35 lead.
The Setters hoped to close the gap further, and did score first in the second half, but AIC went on another roll late in the third stanza as Boyle knocked in her record-tying eighth triple, and Gurley had five straight points with a three and a two, the latter of which put AIC ahead 70-47 with 3:27 to go in the period.
Andruschenko then splashed another deep shot, and ultimately AIC ended the frame on a run with Reeves making two free throws and Gurley laying in a buzzer beater for a 77-50 edge after three.
AIC wanted to win in style, and scored several baskets early, including Boyle's record-breaking make from downtown for the ninth time on a feed from Keyvanna Bennett at the 2:15 mark. AIC's last two field goals of the game also came from long range, with Martinez and Andruschenko each hitting to put a stamp on the 88-67 win and securing a new program best for the team in the process.
"I'm feeling very happy and excited. I just kept shooting the ball with the confidence I got from my teammates and my coaches. We've been working very hard," Boyle said after the game.
"It's nice to be at home where she practices countless hours shooting those threes that she made today…she deserves it, she works hard," Head Coach Kristen Hutchison said of Boyle's individual performance, which broke a record set by Hutchison's former teammate, Megan Ladley, on November 15, 2003, when Ladley made eight triples against Adelphi University.
Of the team's overall showing, especially from deep, she said "We knew Pace was going to zone us, and I was like 'If you're a three-point shooter, you should be so excited.' We worked on it for two straight days, catch and shoot, don't try to do too much, and we got open looks, and we made them."
AIC now breaks until December 17, when the team hits the road for a single game at the College of Staten Island. That contest tips off at 5:30 p.m.
