WALTHAM, Mass. – Freshman post Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academy) scored a career-high 21 points and collected ten rebounds as Bentley University closed out the regular season with a 72-51 win over American International College in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball Tuesday night on Barbara Stevens Court.

Bentley, which also received 17 points from senior guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS), improved to 17-9 overall and 14-6 NE10 with its fifth win in six games this month. The Falcons will be seeded fourth in the upcoming conference championships and will host 13^th-seeded St. Michael's College Friday at 6 pm in a first-round game.

After falling by 11 in the opening stanza, Bentley turned the game around with a 21-2 explosion that made it a 28-20 game midway through the second quarter. The surge began with seven unanswered to finish the first with a three-pointer from the left corner by junior guard Janessa Gonzalez (Meriden, Conn./St. Paul Catholic HS) followed by back-to-back drives from sophomore guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS).

Three minutes after the quarter break, a drive to the basket by Norman returned the lead to Bentley for good, 21-20. The run continued with Thompson scoring five of the next seven points, a right wing three and an elbow jumper.

 Bentley broke the game open with a 16-2 run that spanned halftime and included five points from Norman and four apiece from Thompson and junior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS). That made it a 52-30 game with 5:53 remaining in the third.

The lead peaked at 27, 70-43, after Bentley scored 12 of the first 14 fourth-quarter points. Norman was again a force as she netted six of the 12.

Norman, in her first 20-point game as a collegian, made eight of her 13 shots, drew ten fouls and made five free throws. Thompson remained hot from three, making three of four. Over the last three games, she has buried 13 of 19 from downtown.

Bentley also received 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists from Whitmore, number all just slightly better than her season averages (12.6, 6.8, 2.4).

For AIC, graduate forward Taylor Tomlinson finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.

Bentley outshot the visiting Yellow Jackets (15-13, 11-9) 49-38 percent and was a plus ten in rebounds, 40-30. Points off turnovers (18-8), points in the paint (34-22), second chance points (14-6), three-pointers (7-2), free throw attempts (18-5) and turnovers (7-12) all favored Bentley by a significant margin.