Castro Explodes for a School Record 38 Points to Lead AIC Past Eighth-Ranked Southern Connecticut 67-57
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Senior forward Alexis Castro (Chula Vista, Calif.) dropped a career-high and school-record 38 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the American International College women's basketball team to a 67-57 victory over eighth-ranked and defending national champion Southern Connecticut Saturday afternoon at Butova Gymnasium. The Yellow Jackets improved to 5-2 on the season and 3-2 in the Northeast-10, while the Owls dropped to 6-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
Castro hit 14 of her 20 field goal attempts and was 10 of 11 at the free throw line. She scored 26 of her 38 points in the second half after going 10 of 12 from the floor and 6 for7 seven at the free throw line in the second stanza. The previous record of 35 points in a game was held by four players, including first-year head coach Kristin Patterson, who scored 35 points against St. Augustine on Nov. 16, 2001.
Junior forward Stacy Boisvert (Agawam, Mass.) netted 15 points with six rebounds and graduate student guard Alissa Rubino (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) added eight points with four assists and two steals.
Senior forward Kate Lynch (Rumford, R.I.) led Southern Connecticut with 20 points and eight rebounds and sophomore forward Jacqueline Johannes (Southbury, Conn.) added 14 points.
AIC trailed the Owls 25-22 heading into the locker room and came out firing in the second half as it went on a 12-3 run to take the lead for good at 32-28 with 13:39 to go in the game. Southern Connecticut cut their deficit to one just a minute later at 34-33, but the Yellow Jackets answered with an 8-1 burst that extended their lead to 42-34 midway through the period.
AIC shot 46.9 percent (23-49) from the field and converted a season-best 80.8 percent (21-26) of its free throw attempts. Southern Connecticut shot just 30.6 percent (15-49) from the floor and 69.7 percent (23-33) at the free throw line. The Owls 57 points are a season-low for the Notheast-10's top-scoring offense, which was averaging 82.9 points per game entering today's contest.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Dec. 15 at Le Moyne at 1
p.m. in a Northeast-10 contest.