Feb. 6, 2003

Box Score

Old Westbury, N.Y. - Sophomore Jesse Dlabola came off the bench to notch a game-high 20 points as the Adelphi women's basketball team picked up a 70-57 conference win over local rival NYIT, Thursday night. With the win, the Panthers improve to 12-8 overall and 11-6 in the NYCAC. The Lady Bears drop to 10-10 on the season and 9-8 in the NYCAC.

Dlabola, gave a balanced performance, adding six rebounds, seven assists and eight steals. Sophomore Melanie Mangone had 15 points and sophomore Meranne Whitney picked up six points to go along with a team-high eight boards.

Adelphi came out strong in the first half, spurred by back-to-back steals and baskets by Dlabola to give the Panthers a 11-10 lead at 13:59. Mangone rattled off 11 of the next 14 Adelphi points, including three from beyond the arc, to give the Panthers a 26-14 advantage. The Lady Bears defense rallied back, forcing turnovers and holding the Panthers scoreless for the next five minutes. Adelphi, which shot 41.4 percent from the field, held onto a 29-23 lead going into the intermission.

NYIT opened up the second half with a three-pointer from Christina Papadopoulou, to shrink their deficit to three, but this would prove to be closest the Lady Bears would come. Sophomore Meranne Whitney hit a layup at 19:06 to spark a 14-3 run as the Panthers realized their largest lead of the night, 41-29, with 5:30 remaining. Dlabola contributed eight of Adelphi's final 12 points, including 7-of-8 from three free throw line.

Junior Georgia Gordon led NYIT with 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Papadopoulou had 13 points.

On the game, Adelphi held the advantage from the field, shooting 37.9 percent to NYIT's 30.6 percent. However the Lady Bears dominated the boards, outrebounding the Panthers 54-43 in addition to six blocks.

Adelphi returns to action this Saturday, hosting Philadelphia University at 5:30 p.m. The game will also be webcast by Sports Radio network. Log onto www.nycac.net for more information.