Springfield, Mass. – Dana Watts scored 20 points off the bench to lead American International College to a 71-58 win over the Le Moyne College women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference action at Butova Gymnasium.

Senior guard Vandell Andrade (Cranston, R.I./St. Mary's-Bay View/Rhode Island College) led the Dolphins in the setback with 26 points, including a career-high five three-pointers, while grabbing nine rebounds. With her 26 points, she jumped from 30th place to 26th place on the program's career scoring chart with 771 points. Senior forward Maggie Brown (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) pulled down nine rebounds to move past former teammate Emily Greer '15 for 13th on the program's career rebounds list with 557, while she added six points and six assists.
 
Watts tallied 12 of her game-high point total in the first half, while adding six rebounds. Imani Stepney registered 12 points, including eight in the first half, five rebounds and three assists. Brianna Bishop was the third Yellow Jacket in double-digits with 11 points, while Kamika Mason grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds.

The teams went back and forth in the opening quarter with the margin no more than three points. After the teams split the first 14 points, the Dolphins scored five of the next seven points to take a three-point edge. Following 4-0 spurts by each team, which led to a 16-13 Le Moyne lead with 2:10 to go, they traded points the rest of the quarter, resulting with the Dolphins in front, 20-17.

Andrade gave the Dolphins their largest lead of the game, 23-19, with a three-pointer with 8:38 left in the second quarter.

The Yellow Jackets answered with 13 of the next 16 points to take a six-point advantage with 3:53 remaining in the half. Sydney Tepley started the run with a three-pointer, while Watts tallied six of the last eight points for a 32-26 lead.

Le Moyne cut its deficit to three on three occasions over a span of two minutes, but Watts made a jumper with 1:17 to go and Stepney converted a lay-up with three seconds left to give American International a 40-33 lead at halftime.

The Dolphins opened the second half with the first six points to get within one point. Sophomore forward Joanna Dobrovosky (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles) made a lay-up and then Andrade converted a foul shot and buried a three-pointer to force an AIC timeout with 7:17 left in the third.

American International responded with eight straight points to regain control of the game. Mason scored the first three and Watts tallied the final four.

Following a Le Moyne jumper, Tepley made a free throw with five seconds left to give the Yellow Jackets a 49-41 lead after three quarters.

After Le Moyne started the scoring in the fourth quarter with a free throw, the Yellow Jackets scored the next five points to push their lead to double-digits for the first time. Jayda Gilmore accounted for all five points with a three-pointer and a jumper.

Le Moyne answered with a 9-2 run to get within five, but that's as close as the Dolphins would get. Andrade drained a pair of three-pointers in the stretch around a conventional three-point play by Brown.

American International responded with a 9-2 run of its own to put the game away. Ebony Easter made a three-pointer and a jumper around a pair of mid-range jumpers by Watts for a 65-53 lead with 3:09 remaining.

The Yellow Jackets closed out the game by going 6-for-6 from the foul line over the final 105 seconds.
 
Le Moyne (11-11, 8-8 NE-10), which was swept by the Yellow Jackets in the season series for the fifth time in six years, returns home to face Pace University on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.