Women's Basketball works way to win over Owls

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College women's basketball team jumped on mistakes and used the opportunities to defeat Southern Connecticut State University 65-52 in a Northeast-10 Conference battle on Wednesday, November 29.

AIC is now 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the NE10.

Kayla Robinson had the only point of a sloppy opening three minutes, knocking in a free throw, but things changed with a substitution as rookie Ruzgar Christina Boyle buried a three on her first shot. The Owls responded in kind on the next possession as well as the following one to take a 6-4 lead, and the teams went back-and-forth down the stretch of the quarter. The Owls ended the period leading by that margin, 15-13, thanks to a five-point run in the last 65 seconds before the intermission.

The second quarter flipped the script, with the Owls striking first but AJ Washington answering by landing a three from the right side of the arc, and Robinson's layup put AIC back ahead two possessions later. However, the Owls again pushed back, getting up by as much as six with 2:29 left in the half. Robinson once again led the charge back, scoring the half's final four points to send AIC to the locker room down just two, 27-25.

Things unraveled for the Owls in the third. Briana Lee and Rhaymi Porter scored a handful of early points, ultimately tying the game 31-31, and Nora Young and Tia-Marie Martinez added to the run to give AIC the lead. The advantage grew to as much as eight, and was at 48-41 at the end of the third, as AIC took advantage of seven Owls turnovers and nine fouls to build up that edge. Lee's seven points in the frame all came at the stripe.

The fourth was more of the same. Though the Owls stayed out of foul trouble, AIC now had momentum, and the turnovers continued to plague Southern Connecticut, leading to several AIC breakaway layups, with a pair made each by Aliyah Phillips and by Porter among the 17 fourth-period points the Yellow Jackets scored. Boyle added seven in the final frame as well, and AIC earned the 65-52 win.

Lee narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Porter likewise just missed, scoring a season-best 10 with eight boards, and also swatted away four Owls shots. Robinson's 13 was tied for a game-best with two Owls, and she drew six of the 20 SCSU fouls.

AIC next hits the road to battle Franklin Pierce University on Saturday, December 2 at 1:30 p.m.