Robinson nets 1000th, but Women's Basketball falls short at Adelphi

GARDEN CITY, New York - The American International College women's basketball team could not hold a fourth-quarter lead, falling 63-58 to Adelphi University in the team's Northeast-10 Conference opener on Wednesday, November 15. In the contest, graduate guard and team co-captain Kayla Robinson scored her 1000th career point.

AIC is now 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the NE10.

Nora Young opened the scoring with the game's first basket, but the Panthers bounced back with an eight-point run capped by a Kaitlyn O'Connell triple; Adelphi led 12-4 shortly after before Robinson notched her first four, with a layup and two free throws, cutting the deficit to 12-8 at the break. 

Out of the stoppage, the teams began to connect offensively. Ruzgar Christina Boyle was the key for AIC, as she scored 10 straight Yellow Jackets points, including a pair of threes that swished cleanly, countering success by the Panther offense at the other end. Finally, with about four minutes left in the half, AIC was able to slow Adelphi's attack, and Tia-Marie Martinez, Rhaymi Porter, and Briana Lee each hit a bucket down the stretch, allowing AIC to take a 28-27 lead to the locker room. 

The AIC lead increased early in the third, with Lee and Porter scoring before Porter set up Robinson for an and-one. AIC seemed to have an answer for everything Adelphi did from there, including another old-school three from Lee as she hit a layup through contact and finished the bonus point with 4:32 to go in the frame, giving the Yellow Jackets a 43-35 edge. She did it again just over three minutes later, with the free throw extending the lead to 48-40, but Adelphi scored seven in the final 1:26, including a buzzer-beating right-corner three from Victoria Morgan, shrinking AIC's edge back to one heading to the final frame.

Adelphi retook the lead on a jumper just over a minute into the fourth, only to have Lee counter right away with a basket. On AIC's next possession, Robinson took an inbound pass from the left side and cut down the lane, putting in a layup for her 11th point of the game and 1000th of her career.

Here's the bucket for Kayla that was point number 1000!#AICommitted #NE10EMbrace pic.twitter.com/oVffkh8fvl

— AIC Athletics (@aicathletics) November 15, 2023

O'Connell knotted things back up with a three, and two possessions later hit another to put her team ahead. After a Porter basket on the next possession, AIC was able to regain the lead with 3:58 to play as Martinez swiped the ball and found Boyle open for a layup, but it was not meant to be for the Yellow Jackets as the Panthers scored eight of the last 10 down the stretch for the win.

Lee shot 50 percent from the floor, leading AIC with 18 points and grabbing eight boards; Boyle had a dozen off the bench and five rebounds as well, while Porter put in six points with 13 boards, three helpers, and three blocks. Martinez scored just five points but snagged eight rebounds, made four assists, and came up with four swipes.

For Robinson, her 1000th point came in her 90th career game; she is the 24th player in the history of the women's basketball program at AIC to reach 1000 points in a career.

AIC hosts its home opener at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 21 against Bentley University.