SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College women's basketball team lost a 66-45 decision at American International College on Wednesday in Butova Gymnasium. The Purple Knights are 8-10 overall and 3-10 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Yellow Jackets improved to 11-10 and 6-7.

Junior Makenzie Burud (Red Hook, N.Y./Coleman Catholic) totaled 12 points and eight rebounds for Saint Michael's, which held advantages of 27-26 in scoring and 16-12 in rebounding during the second half, going 10-of-13 on free throws while the hosts made no trips to the charity stripe. Sophomore Indira Evora (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) notched 12 points and two assists, and first-year Maddy Bennett (Montpelier, Vt./U-32) collected four points, five rebounds and two steals. Senior Maggie Sabine (Litchfield, Maine/Oak Hill/Central Maine CC) and first-year Tomi Akinpetide (Sydney, Australia/Rice Memorial) both scored six points.

Senior Krista Ferrentino (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow/Bryant) led AIC with 18 points and nine boards, while junior Kamika Mason (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson/Cloud County CC) notched 12 points and seven rebounds. Classmate Brianna Bishop (Suffield, Conn./Suffield) shot 3-of-6 from three-point range while totaling nine points and four assists.

AIC connected on its first five shots to take a 10-0 lead by 16:53 of the opening half, as Ferrentio and Mason both had two baskets in that opening stretch. Akinpetide dropped home a lay-in to put her team on the board eight seconds later, but the Purple Knights never came closer, with Bishop draining a three to eventually make it 19-5 by 13:41. Burud converted hoops to twice draw Saint Michael's within 11, and Akinpetide's lay-in at 9:52 produced a 23-12 margin, but the Yellow Jackets scored 19 of the next 25 points to take their largest lead, 42-18, 24 seconds after halftime. A 7-2 spurt late in the game allowed the visitors to trim their deficit to 17, on a Bennett freebie with 1:04 remaining.

The Purple Knights return home for their next three games, beginning by taking on No. 8 Adelphi University on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Panthers' ranking is according to the USA TODAY national poll, while they currently occupy the top spot in the D2SIDA East Region Media Poll.