PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.- A total of 15 lead changes did not end well for the Setters as they fell short to the Yellow Jackets of American International College (AIC), 61-58. Pace holds a 15-5 overall record and 12-4 record in the NE-10 conference while AIC advances to 9-11 overall and 8-8 in the conference. The Setters, receiving votes in this week's USA Today/ESPN Top-25 Coaches Poll, fall into a tie for third place with Southern New Hampshire.
Seven lead changes, three tied scores and both of the team's largest leads came in the first half. The Yellow Jackets led early but Pace to take a brief 10-9 lead at the 13:50 mark. American International took the lead back on the ensuing possession and pulled ahead to their largest lead of the game at the 22-16 with 8:53 left in the half. The Setters answered and were able to chip away as they again took a one points lead at 23-22 but the Yellow Jackets held a slim 33-32 lead at the break.
Pace scored 24 points in the paint in the first half to AIC's 12 but both teams scored eight points off of turnovers. Pace shot 54.2% from the field while AIC shot 44.8%, but AIC connected on 4-12 shots from three-point range while Pace went 1-8.
Kerri White (Flushing, NY/Archbishop Molloy) (Flushing, NY/Archbishop Molloy) connected from the outside to score the first basket of the second half to put the Setters up 35-33 in the first minute of play. The second half would see four more ties and eight more lead changes as both teams battled for most of the half. The Setters took their final lead at the 14:02 mark as two made free-throw by Carol Johnson (New City, NY/Cardinal Spellman) (New City, NY/Cardinal Spellman) put Pace in front 46-45
American International used a 6-1 run to push ahead by six points at 53-47 with 9:34 left in the game. The Setters rallied as White connected on two free throws and hit a trifecta, while Margo Hackett's (Pawling, NY/Pawling) (Pawling, NY/Pawling) lay-up gave Pace a 54-53 lead with 5:57 remaining in the game. The Yellow Jackets answered and went back up by four points but a lay-up by Brittany Shields (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) brought the Setters within two points with 2:37 to go to make it 56-58. American International connected on a triple but Johnson and drained both free-throws with 1:51 to play to pull Pace to within three points. The Setters fell short down the stretch as a White triple as time expired was off as Pace fell to the Yellow Jackets.
Pace finished scoring six more points than AIC in the paint but AIC scored eight more points on second-chance attempts and their bench scored seven more points than Pace. Pace finished out the game shooting 45.5% from the field, 26% from three-point range and 77.8% from the line while AIC hit 46.2% from the field, 38.1% from the outside and 71.4% from the foul line.
The Yellow Jackets had four players score in double digits where Michelle Lafond led the team with 18 points, four rebounds and three steals. Li Sicard finished with 15 points and three rebounds, while Alyssa Roach scored 12 points and added four assists. Erica Johnson and Rhea Pascal lead the boards for AIC with seven each, while Pascal also added ten points.
Three Setters scored in double-figures with Shields leading the way with 21 points and five rebounds. White finished with 11 points, four assists and two blocks while Johnson totaled 10 points and two steals. Maral Javadifar (Flushing, NY/The Mary Louis Academy) led the Setters in rebounds with six.
The Setters take it on the road on Saturday February 4 for a 1:30 pm match-up against the New Haven Chargers in a Northeast-10 Conference game.
