March 5, 2008

Box Score

Bridgeport, Conn. - The Adelphi University women's basketball team fell to the University of Bridgeport, 76-62, in the quarterfinals of the East Coast Conference (ECC) Tournament tonight at Harvey Hubble Gymnasium. The Panthers finish the season 14-14 overall, while the Purple Knights improve to 17-11 and advance to Saturday's semi-final round.

Junior Lisa Manetta (Glendale, N.Y.) led the Panthers with 19 points. Senior Gianna Smith (Hempstead, N.Y.) had 13 points while junior Danielle Parks (Galloway, N.J.) added 12 off then bench.

The first half was close with seven ties, including a 32-32 half-time score. Adelphi connected on 14-of-16 from the free throw line, or 87.5 percent, which allowed them to keep it close. Contrastly they struggled from the field, hitting just 8-of-27 (29.6 percent). UB faired slightly better with a 35.5 percent effort. (11-31).

The Purple Knights pulled ahead by five, 39-34, to start the second half, but back to back three-pointers by Manetta spurred a 6-2 run to close the gap to one, 41-40, at 16:50. Smith hit both free throws at 15:16 to knot the score at 44, but the Panthers would never take the lead. The Purple surged ahead on a 10-2 run, 54-46, at 12:31. Senior Mary Lepore (Manhasset, N.Y.) drained a three-point basket to spur a 10-2 Adelphi rally to close to within two, 56-54, with 8:28 left on the clock. However Bridgeport outscored Adelphi 20-8 in the final minutes for the win.

Bridgeport was led by Shannon Malone with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Sidney Parson had 16 points and Siobhan Moore chipped in 10. The Purple Knights will move on to play the winner of the New Haven/Dowling match-up on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. at Queens College.

The Panthers will wait to see if they receive a bid to the ECAC Tournament scheduled for March 15-16.