Women's Basketball Registers 59-49 Win at Merrimack
North Andover, Mass. - The American International College women's basketball team improved to 3-2 on the season and 2-2 in the Northeast-10 after posting a tightly contested 59-49 win at Merrimack College. Junior guard Jeannette Johnathan (Central Islip, N.Y.) scored a season-high 14 points with three rebounds for the Yellow Jackets.
Senior forward Alexis Castro (Chula Vista, Calif.) filled out the box score with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior center Jen Nnanna (Somerset, N.J.) swatted a season-high nine shots and grabbed seven rebounds and junior Stacy Boisvert (Agawam, Mass.) added eight points and four boards.
Junior guard Amanda Shannon (North Andover, Mass.) and sophomore guard Casey Miller (Fairbanks, Alaska) and netted 10 points each for the Warriors (2-4, 0-2 NE-10). Shannon also had five rebounds and four assists.
AIC opened the game with an 8-0 run over the first 4:39 of the game, but the Warriors answered with a 12-4 burst that tied the game at 12-all midway through the first half. Merrimack held a 20-18 lead with just over four minutes to go in the opening frame before the Yellow Jackets went on a 10-0 to take a 28-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Merrimack battled back and started the second half with a 13-4 run to regain the lead at 33-32 7:09 into the second period. AIC regained the lead for good two-minutes later on a pair of Castro free throws and held on for the win.
The Warriors pulled within three points at 51-48 with just 40 seconds left in the contest, but had to foul and the Yellow Jackets hit eight of their 10 free throw attempts to put the game away.
AIC shot 44.4 percent from the field (20-45) and 72.7 percent from the free throw line (16-22), while the Warriors shot 27.0 percent from the floor (17-63) and 70.0 percent from the line (7-10).
The Yellow Jackets return to action Tuesday when they travel to
Saint Michael's for a 5:30 p.m. Northeast-10 contest.