RAPID REACTION WITH HEAD COACH KAREN PINKOS

When and Where: February 28, 2020 – Manchester, N.H. (Stan Spirou Field House)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 77, American International College 47
Records: SNHU 16-12, AIC 8-21

Freshman Adriana Timberlake (Braintree, Mass.) matched her career-high with 19 points, as the Southern New Hampshire University women's basketball team, the Northeast Division's No. 4 seed, breezed past the fifth seed from the Southwest Division, American International College, in the first round of the Northeast-10 Championship on Friday evening at the Stan Spirou Field House.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Timberlake – 19 points (7-9 FG, 4-4, 3-FG, 1-2 FT), 4 rebounds, 3 assists
• Senior Victoria Dean (Plymouth, Mass.) – 16 points (7-14 FG, 2-6 3-FG), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
• Senior Karlee Ziliak (Evansville, Ind.) – 12 points (4-6 FG, 3-5 3-FG, 1-2 FT), 5 rebounds
• Senior Molly Terry (Shrewsbury, Mass.) – 11 points (3-8 FG, 3-5 3-FG, 2-2 FT), 7 rebounds, 4 assists
• Junior Gyanna Russell (E. Hampton, Conn.) – 9 points (3-9 FG, 3-5 FT), 7 rebounds
• Freshman Ariana Koivisto (Pomfret, Conn.) – 5 points (2-2 FG, 1-1 3-FG), 7 rebounds

KEY MOMENTS

• Southern New Hampshire led, 18-17, with just over 90 seconds to play in the opening quarter, when it scored 28 of the game's next 36 points to grab a 46-25 advantage just 2:15 into the third quarter. Timberlake led the way with 12 points, while Dean added seven.
• With the Yellow Jackets hanging around, down by 16 with just over eight minutes to play, the Penmen put them away with a 17-2 blitz that opened the largest lead of the night at 77-46 with 2:20 to go. Timberlake and Dean each scored five points during the stretch.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Rashana Siders led American Int'l with 17 points (6-14 FG, 3-6 3-FG, 2-3 FT), including the 1,000th of her career.
• The Penmen outshot the Yellow Jackets, 48.2 percent (27-56) to 31.1 percent (19-61), including 59.1 percent (13-22) to 25 percent (5-20) from long range.
• SNHU was also plus-6 from the line and shot it better, 71.4 percent (10-14) to 44.4 percent (4-9).
• The Penmen captured the glass (43-28) and the paint (28-22), collected more points off turnovers (17-10) and on the fast break (13-0), and received more scoring from their bench (19-8), in addition to featuring a more impressive assist-to-turnover ratio (15/18-7/14). The Yellow Jackets gathered more second chance points (7-6).
• Timberlake scored 11 of SNHU's 19 second-quarter points, while the Penmen held AIC to just 2 of 18 shooting (11.1%) in the stanza.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire wins for the third time in five games, while AIC ends its season having lost six of seven.
• SNHU advances to the quarterfinal round for the second time in three seasons and will meet Adelphi University, the top seed from the Southwest Division, on Sunday (March 1) at 2 p.m. This will be the first postseason meeting between the two teams.
• The Penmen improve to 4-8 (.333) all-time in the Northeast-10 Championship and exact some revenge on the Yellow Jackets from last season's 79-55 first-round loss in Springfield, Mass.
• Despite trailing in the all-time series, 25-13, SNHU has now won four of five against AIC and finishes the season 3-0 against the Yellow Jackets.
• The 30-point margin of victory is the largest ever for SNHU in a postseason contest and the second largest ever against an NE10 opponent, trailing only Jan. 11, 2003 when it defeated the College of Saint Rose by 36 (75-39).
• Terry surpassed Kristy Woodill's (1996-00) all-time program record for 3-pointers made with her 185th career trey, knocking it down just 2:15 into the contest.

WHAT'S NEXT

• The Penmen travel to take on Adelphi in an NE10 Championship quarterfinal game Sunday, March 1 (2 p.m.).

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