Jan. 21, 2008

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - Junior Serita Lee (Malverne, N.Y.) registered a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Adelphi University women's basketball team to a 62-52 win over St. Thomas Aquinas on Monday evening at Woodruff Hall. The Panthers improve to 8-8 overall and 6-3 in the ECC, while the Lady Spartans fall to 6-10 and 5-4.

Senior Mary Lepore (Manhasset, N.Y.) tallied 19 points, including 12-of-15 from the free throw line. Senior Gianna Smith (Hempstead, N.Y.) had 12 points.

Adelphi took control from the tip-off and opened on an 8-0 run. The Panthers led by as much as 16 points, 28-12, on a jumper by junior Jasmine Travers (Gaitersburg, Md.) at 6:06. However despite shooting 29.6 percent from the field, the Spartans managed to outscore the Panthers, 13-6 over the final minutes to close the gap to eight, 34-26, at the half.

STAC continued its strong play into the second half, as they slowly began to chip away at Adelphi's lead. Up by eight, 42-34, with 12:59 remaining, the Panthers seemed to struggle, as they allowed the Lady Spartans to pull to within one, 43-42, on a made basket by Raven Brinkley at 8:03. Lee contributed seven of the next 17 points for Adelphi, as the Panthers rallied back to a 10 point advantage with 1:03 left in regulation.

The Panthers held a 42-37 rebound advantage over the Lady Spartans. However, both teams struggled from beyond the arc, with Adelphi going 0-10 and STAC fairing only slightly better with 2-of-14.

Adelphi continues its conference action on Wednesday, January 23, as they travel to Brookville, to face C.W. Post at 5:30 p.m.