NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Southern Connecticut women's basketball defeated American International, 74-59, in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup at James Moore Field House. With the win, the Owls improved to 18-5 overall and 15-5 in the NE10 while AIC dropped to 15-8 overall and 9-6 in conference play.
Rheyna Steinauer scored a career-best 31 points for her third 30-point performance of the season. Steinauer hit 12-of-18 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range. Jillian Martin and Tish Blackwood tallied double doubles. Martin had 12 points, 10 assists and a season-high five steals as she flirted with the triple-double. Blackwood had her 10th double-double of the season with 20 points and 16 rebounds.
After trading baskets over the game's opening minutes, Southern used a 13-2 run to jump out to a 17-6 lead, highlighted by Rheyna Steinauer's eight points in the stretch. AIC countered with a 7-4 stretch that ended with the Owls leading, 21-13, through the game's first two minutes. Steinauer paced the Owls with 12 points in the first frame. AIC outscored Southern, 17-16, in the second quarter to send the game to halftime with the Owls' leading, 37-30.
The Owls opened the second half with a 15-5 run to give them the largest lead of the game, 52-35, halfway through the third. Steinauer and Jillian Martin paced the Owls with four points each in the run. AIC put together a run at the end of the quarter to cut Southern's lead to 58-44 heading to the final quarter.
In the fourth, AIC used an 9-2 run to open the quarter and cut Southern' s lead to 60-53 with seven minutes to play. Southern took advantage of a scoreless spell by AIC and pushed its lead to 12 points, 69-57, with 3:11 to play. The Owls closed the game by outscoring the Yellow Jackets, 10-2, to close out the 74-59.
Southern is back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 18 when it travels to Garden City, N.Y. to take on Adelphi at 5:30 p.m. The Owls return home for their final regular-season game when they host Saint Michael's on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m. at James Moore Field House with Senior Day festivities scheduled for the start of the game.
