Feb. 21, 2009

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - Senior Serita Lee tallied 15 points, while pulling down 16 boards to lead the Adelphi University women's basketball team to a 66-63 victory over Dowling College this afternoon at the Center for Recreation & Sports. The Panthers improve to 12-13 and 9-7 in the ECC, while the Golden Lions fall to 18-7 and 12-4 in conference play.

Including Lee, four players recorded double figures, including sophomore Ashley Caiafa with 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Theresa Foley had 14 points and seven rebounds and junior Keri Schumacher chipped in 10 points.

The game remained close for most of the first half, with five lead changes and five ties through the first 14 minutes of play. With the score knotted at 19 and 6:40 left to play, the Panthers rallied on a 12-0 run capped by a Lee jumper with 2:44 on the clock. Adelphi took a 12-point lead, 35-23, into the locker room to end the half.

The Golden Lions opened the second half on a 6-0 run to close to within four points, 35-31, on a Kelly Puwalski jumper, but the Panthers regained their momentum, pushing the lead back to nine, 43-34, on a bucket by Shumacher. Dowling would not back down, as they continued to chip away at the margin, eventually tying the score, 48-48, at 7:52. Christine Marrone gave Dowling the advantage on a three-pointer, 50-51, at 6:49. Caiafa drained a three-pointer at 5:20 to keep the Panthers in position. After one more lead change and a tie, Foley put Adelphi up for good on a basket plus the penalty, 61-59, with 1:49 left in regulation. The Golden Lions were 1-for-4 from the field down the stretch, while the Panthers went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute to seal the win.

Marrone led all scorers with 17 points. Simona Barkova had 13 points, while Hannah Krueger added 12 points.

Adelphi participated in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) Pink Zone initative, raising money and awareness of Breast Cancer. At half-time, the Panthers invited breast cancer survivors to center court as they presented a check for $4,000 to the Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline. Additional proceeds raised from today's game will go to Hotline as well.