Fifth-Seeded Women's Basketball to Host 12th-Seeded Saint Rose In NE-10 Championship Tournament Sunday
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The fifth-seeded American International College women's basketball team will host 12th-seeded College of Saint Rose in the first round of the Northeast-10 Championship Tournament Sunday at 2 p.m. at Butova Gymnasium. Fans unable to attend the game can follow the game live online by watching NE-10.tv for a fee of $6.99 by CLICKING HERE, or listen to WAIC's free audio webcast CLICKING HERE. Fans in the Greater Springfield area can also tune-in to 91.9 FM for complete play-by-play coverage.
No. 5 AIC Yellow Jackets (16-10, 12-9 NE-10) vs. No. 12 Saint Rose Golden Knights (13-14, 9-13 NE-10)
Setting the Scene: The Yellow Jackets are in search of their first Northeast-10 conference tournament win since the 2004-05 season when they beat Saint Rose.
Scouting AIC: The Yellow Jackets ended the regular season with an overall record of 16-11 and a12-10 mark in the Northeast-10. AIC is averaging 57.9 points per game and is holding its opponents to 54.3 points per contest. Senior Alexis Castro leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 18.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Junior Stacy Boisvert is second on the team in scoring and fourth in rebounding with 12 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Graduate student Alissa Rubino leads the team with 107 assists and 30 steals and is averaging 4.5 points on the season.
AIC'S Last Time Out: AIC lost its final game of the regular season at the buzzer to Franklin Pierce, 66-64. Senior Alexis Castro had a chance to win the game for the Yellow Jackets, but missed both of her free-throw attempts. Franklin Pierce would then hit the game winning jumper as time expired. Castro ended the game with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and a block in what was her 11th double-double of the season. Rubino finished with a career high 13 points and six assists on the night. Senior Mirlande Francois went 3-5 shooting with seven points, four rebounds, and a block. Junior Jeannette Johnathan also added 12 points for the Yellow Jackets.
AIC in the Northeast-10 Championship Tournament: AIC has an overall record of 16-24 in the Northeast-10 tournament. Their only Northeast-10 championship came in 2002 when they beat Le Moyne in the final 65-50. The Yellow Jackets went on to win their first Northeast Regional title to advance to their first Elite Eight where they lost to Glenville State 94-86 in double overtime.
Scouting Saint Rose: The Golden Knights enter the Northeast-10 tournament game with a 13-14 overall record and a 9-13 record in the conference play after losing to UMass-Lowell Tuesday evening, 80-72. Saint Rose is averaging 64.1 points per game, while allowing 68.1 points per contest. Senior Emily Gottstein leads the team in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (9.4 rpg), and blocked shots (25). Junior Dana Brown is second in scoring at 14.2 points per contest, while sophomore Elizabeth Buckley is third with 12 points per game. Freshman Linsey Timbrouck leads the team with 94 assists and 52 steals.
About the Series: The Yellow Jackets are currently 2-0 against Saint Rose this season, with an 8-5 all time series regular season record. AIC is 1-1 all-time against Saint Rose in the Northeast-10 tournament. The last time these two teams played in the Northeast-10 tournament, Saint Rose recorded a 59-58 victory, in Springfield in the 2006 conference championship tournament. The Yellow Jackets also have a 1-1 record against Saint Rose in the NCAA tournament, give AIC an all-time series lead of 10-7.
Last Time they Met: AIC recorded a 57-46
victory at Saint Rose. Johnathan scored a
career-high 16 points. Also contributing for the Yellow Jackets
were Boisvert with 12 points and six rebounds, and
Castro had nine points and 10 boards. Sophomore
forward Kristen Boesenberg also netted nine points
after draining three straight 3-pointers during AIC's 17-2 run and
grabbed five rebounds off the bench. Brown led the
Golden Knights in their losing effort with 21 points, while
Gottstein had a double-double with 13 points and
11 rebounds.