Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball dropped its regular season finale to American International, 53-43, Tuesday evening at Henry A. Butova Gymnasium. The Owls end the regular season 14-14 overall and 11-9 in Northeast-10 Conference play.
Junior forward
Jackie Beathea (Annandale, Va.) recorded her 16th double-double of the year, 11 points and 12 rebounds, as well as posted an assist, a block and a steal. Senior guard
Sydni Lester (Teaneck, N.J.) and sophomore
Taylor McLaughlin (Colchester, Conn.) chipped in with eight points while junior
Nicole Grossbard (Pearl River, N.Y.) contributed seven points.
Over the first nine minutes of play, Southern Conn. and American International battled valiantly for the lead, managing three ties and three lead changes. During that time, Beathea scored seven of the Owls' 10 points. With the score 11-10, in favor of the hosts, AIC jumped ahead on a 12-5 run to bring the score to 23-15 with 7:54 remaining in the first.
Following an Owls' timeout, Southern Conn. continued to battle with the Yellow Jackets, but remained trailing by seven, 26-19, forcing another Owls' timeout. Coming out of the huddle, both teams answered with two quick baskets, before a three from Grossbard cut the Yellow Jackets' lead to four, 28-24, with 2:12 left on the clock.
However, American International rallied off six-straight points to take a double-digit lead, 34-24, heading into halftime. Both teams were evenly matched in the first as American International shot 38.7 percent from the field and Southern Conn. shot 30.3 percent. At the end of the first half, Beathea led the Owls in scoring with nine points and seven boards. Fellow starters, Grossbard and McLaughlin chipped in with seven and points, respectively.
Southern Conn. finally broke its 4:13 silence with a basket from Lester to start up the second half, before a 12-2 run from the Yellow Jackets brought the score to 46-28 midway through.
With 8:47 remaining to go, Southern Conn. went on a short spurt until a minute later the Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 14, 48-38. From that point on, Southern Conn. could only play catch-up as the Yellow Jackets secured the 53-43 win over the Owls.
The Owls are back in action when they open Northeast-10 Tournament play at Franklin Pierce on March 1. Tip-off for that game is set for 1 p.m.
