Women's basketball takes down New Haven
SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts -- The American International College women's basketball team used an offensive surge in the third quarter to build a lead they did not relinquish as the Yellow Jackets upended the University of New Haven 71-62 in Northeast-10 Conference play on Wednesday, November 30.
AIC is now 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the NE10.
The first quarter saw a series of basket trades, although New Haven built a four-point lead on back-to-back Aurora Deshaies layups. Tia-Marie Martinez hit a three, only for New Haven to answer and ultimately build to a 16-10 lead. The Yellow Jackets came right back though, as Taylor Tomlinson broke the Chargers run with a bucket, and then Kayla Robinson and Cierra Highland each hit triples. New Haven answered Highland's three with its own on the next possession, but a late Highland free throw tied the game at 19-all after one.
Highland put AIC back ahead on the first possession of the middle frame before Martinez took over for a stretch, knocking down a three and then swiping the ball to set up Rosa Vreugd from deep, forcing a New Haven timeout. Deshaies hit a layup out of the stoppage, but Vreugd countered with another deep ball. A Tomlinson shot pushed AIC's advantage to 32-21 midway through the quarter. However, New Haven pushed, scoring five points in the final minute of the half and outscoring AIC 11-2 over the final 5:17 to trim the gap to just 34-32 at the break.
Deshaies tied the game for the Chargers on the first possession of the second half, only for Tomlinson to score the game's next basket. Shortly after, Martinez set up Robinson for another deep hit, and AIC began to rebuild its advantage. Martinez and Tomlinson both hit shots during a run, which lasted from Tomlinson's make at the 2:35 mark through a Robinson three at 6:25 that gave AIC a 51-37 lead. That advantage held, to the tune of AIC being up 57-45 after half an hour of play.
In the final frame, AIC put it away. Robinson's fourth three of the night landed 1:18 in and brought AIC to 60 points. She was AIC's primary scorer in the quarter, striking for six total points as the team succeeded in running out the clock for the 71-62 win.
Tomlinson posted a game-best 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting; Robinson chipped in 17 with four of the season-best 11 three-pointers AIC made. Vreugd had 10 points, while Martinez notched nine to go with four assists, three boards, and two steals. AIC swiped the ball from New Haven 13 times, tying a season high the team has accomplished twice before this campaign. The Yellow Jackets also tied a season high with 17 assists, while holding to a season-low nine turnovers.
AIC next treks north for a matchup against Saint Michael's College on Saturday, December 3 at 1:30 p.m.