Collins Notches Double-Double Effort Of 13 Points And 10 Rebounds As 10th-Ranked Women's Basketball Sees Eight Game Winning Streak Come To End With 57-53 Northeast-10 Setback At 18th-Ranked American International
January 17, 2007
STONEHILL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Butova Gymnasium, Springfield, Mass.
FINAL: AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL 57, STONEHILL 53
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-- Junior Alexis Castro (Chula Vista, Calif.) notched a double-double effort of 28 points and 12 rebounds as 18th-ranked American International snapped 10th-ranked Stonehill's eight-game winning streak by posting a 57-53 Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball victory Wednesday evening at Butova Gymnasium.
The host Yellow Jackets (13-4, 8-4 Northeast-10) raced out to a 9-2 lead just five minutes into the contest and built that margin to 12 points (18-6) on a Castro jumper with 7:35 remaining in the first half. The visiting Skyhawks (15-3, 10-3 Northeast-10) used a quick six point burst to slice their deficit in half, but American International scored eight of the game's next 10 points to restore that 12 point edge. Stonehill cut that margin down to five in the closing minute of the half before a Yellow Jacket three-pointer at the buzzer gave the hosts a 29-21 cushion at the break, as American International regained a 12-point lead in the first 1:01 of action after intermission.
After the Skyhawks closed the gap to five once again at 37-32 with 12:47 remaining on a conventional three-point play by senior Alisha Collins (Port Chester, N.Y.), the Yellow Jackets used a 9-2 run to take an 11-point edge (46-35) on a pair of Castro free throws with 9:52 remaining. Stonehill again made a run to cut its deficit down to three (50-47), capping its 12-4 burst with a pair of free throws from junior Daryl Cioffi (New Milford, N.J.) with 4:41 to play, but American International answered back with seven straight points in a four-plus minute stretch to lead by 10 in the final 32 seconds remaining, as three lay-ins by Collins and senior Tiffany Huggins (Stoughton, Mass.) in the final 13 seconds accounted for the final score.
Castro was the lone player in double figures for American International, which claimed its sixth win in the last seven outings, as junior Lexanne Dickerson (Carthage, Ill.) was next with eight points. Junior Jen Nnanna (Somerset, N.J.) grabbed 13 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets, who shot 35 percent from the field but held a 17-10 scoring advantage at the foul line.
Collins led the way with a double-double effort of 13 points and 10 rebounds in the setback for Stonehill, which also received eight points and seven rebounds each from Huggins and senior Caitlin Kennedy (Baldwin, N.Y.). Freshman Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y.) added eight points as well for the Skyhawks, who also received seven points and six boards from Cioffi as well as six points from junior Meghan Driscoll (Bridgewater, Mass.) as the visitors shot just 26 percent from the floor, including a 12 percent effort from behind the arc, despite holding a 48-47 rebounding edge and forcing 18 turnovers.
Stonehill hosts Franklin Pierce in a Northeast-10 outing on Saturday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium beginning at 1:30 p.m., while American International heads to Manchester, N.H. on Saturday afternoon to take on Saint Anselm in a Northeast-10 match-up that also begins at 1:30 p.m.