Jan. 12, 2009

Box Score

Sparkill, N.Y. - Sophomore Ashley Caiafa tallied 23 points and seven rebounds to lead the Adelphi University women's basketball team to a 68-61 conference victory over St. Thomas Aquinas on Monday night in a rescheduled contest. The Panthers improve to 7-6 overall and 4-0 in the ECC, while the Lady Spartans fall to 3-10 and 0-4 in the league.

Senior Serita Lee had 14 points and a team-high eight boards, while senior Lisa Manetta chipped in 11 points and four assists.

There was sharp shooting in the first half as the Panthers shot 50 percent from the field (15-30) and 100 percent from three-point range. The Lady Spartans were also hot, hitting 14-of-27 from the field (51.9%) and 4-of-5 from beyond the arch. After some back and forth action, Caifa put Adelphi up on consecutive three-pointers to take the lead, 10-9, at 15:31. The Lady Spartans pulled ahead briefly on a Briana Sloper jumper, but Adelphi reponded with nine unanswered points to pull ahead, 21-14. The lead extended to 10 points, 29-19 on a layup by Lee with 6:22 remaining in the half. STAC answered shot for shot and in the final minute closed the gap to four points, 39-35, at intermission.

Both teams came out sluggish in the second half, with the STAC shooting 25 percent from the field and Adelphi fairing slightly better at 31.3 percent. Adelphi led by seven points in the opening mintues, but STAC used a 10-2 run to take the lead, 45-44, at 15:15. Junior Keri Schumacher put up two of her eight points to put the Panthers back up, but the game remained close with five ties, the last at 57-57 with 5:34 left to go. Adelphi pulled away on an 8-0 run capped by a layup from senior Jasmine Travers at 2:43 and maintained the margin until the buzzer.

STAC was led by Colleen Vogel with a game-high 24 points. Sloper added 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Adelphi returns to action this Wednesday, January 14, as they play host to Molloy College at 5:30 p.m.