Springfield, Mass. – Marie Li Sicard scored 14 points, including the eventual game-winning basket, as American International held on for a 56-55 win over the Le Moyne College women's basketball team on Wednesday night in Northeast-10 Conference action at Butova Gymnasium.

Sicard scored nine of her team-high point total in the opening half, while adding a team-best nine rebounds and five assists off the bench. Sarah Noble recorded 11 points, while Alyssa Roach finished with 10 points.

Senior forward Katie Hart (Constantia, N.Y./Central Square/Canisius) registered her fifth double-double of the season with a career high-tying 20 points (11 in the second half) and a game-best 12 rebounds, including seven in the second half. Classmate Morgan Rowland (Latham, N.Y./Shaker/Delaware State) was the only other Dolphin in double digits, scoring 11 points.

After the Dolphins scored the first five points of the game on a three-pointer by Rowland and a jumper by Hart, the Yellow Jackets scored six straight points. Roach had a jumper, Lauren Griffith hit two free throws and Sicard gave her team the lead with a jumper.

Le Moyne answered with back-to-back baskets by junior Emily Bayly (Schenectady, N.Y./Niskayuna) and freshman Jocelyn Ford (Ithaca, N.Y./Lansing), but AIC scored seven straight points to regain the lead. Sicard made two free throws, Noble buried a three-pointer and then Michelle Lafond made a jump shot for a 13-9 lead with 9:50 left in the half.

The teams split the last 26 points of the half as the Yellow Jackets took a 26-22 lead at halftime. The Dolphins tied the score three times over the span (15, 19, 21), but were unable to take the lead. Hart tallied seven of Le Moyne's 13 points, including lay-ups that tied the score at 19 and 21, while Sicard posted five of AIC's 13 points, including a three-pointer from the left wing to beat the first-half buzzer.

Following a jumper by Rhea Pascal to open the scoring in the second half, the Dolphins scored seven of the next nine points to get within a point. Senior center Emma Cronk (Parham, Ontario/Sydenham/Binghamton) started the push with a lay-up, Hart followed with a lay-up and then sophomore guard Maddy McKnight">Maddy McKnight (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) drilled a three-pointer at the 16:09 mark.

The Yellow Jackets answered with seven straight points to take a game-best eight-point edge with 13:49 remaining. Pascal had a lay-up, Sicard made a jumper and Lafond followed with a three-pointer.

The teams then exchanged baskets over the ensuing 10:13, with AIC's lead bouncing between three and seven points and AIC holding a 54-47 advantage at the 3:36 mark. Roach led the Yellow Jackets during the span with eight points, while McKnight buried a pair of three-pointers for the Dolphins.

After Noble made a three-pointer at the 3:36 mark, Rowland answered with a three-pointer to cut Le Moyne's deficit to four with 2:32 left. Out of a timeout, Sicard made a lay-up to make the score 56-50 with 2:03, but that would end AIC's scoring in the game. Hart had a put-back lay-up on Le Moyne's next possession to get her team back within four. After an AIC miss and two Le Moyne offensive rebounds, Hart registered a conventional three-point play to bring the Dolphins within a point and tie her career high, which she set four days ago at Assumption. Sicard missed the front end of a "1-and-1" with 19 seconds left and Hart pulled down the rebound. Le Moyne missed on its first shot attempt to win the game with seven seconds left and were unable to get a shot off after running an out-of-bounds play.

Le Moyne (6-16, 3-15 NE-10), which has lost three of its last four games by three points or less, returns home to face New Haven on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.