Garden City, N.Y. – Earlier this evening, the Adelphi women's basketball team opened Northeast-10 Conference play against the Owls of Southern Connecticut State University at the Center for Recreation and Sport. The Panthers used a strong first half to control the pace of play and upset the Owls 72-63 to move to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the NE-10, while Southern Connecticut drops to 1-1 and 0-1 in the conference. 

The Panthers opened up a 6-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game, courtesy of a three-pointer by Shannon Flynn and a layup from Jessica Kitrys. The Panthers would expand this lead to 14-9 behind a layup from Samantha Milhaven, but Southern Connecticut would knot the action at 14-14 on a three-pointer from Katie Stopera. Freshman Lauren Nuss drained back-to-back three-pointers to put the hosts back on top at 20-16 with just under eight minutes left in the half. 

A steal from Sade Jackson and consecutive layups by Ifeanyi Ofili gave the Panthers their largest lead of the half at 24-16; they would pad that lead to 29-16 behind another three-point jumper from Nuss and a layup by Kelly Mannix. The Owls would put together a 9-4 run to close the gap to 32-25; however, a pair of free throws by Milhaven and a late layup by Kitrys put the Panthers back up by double figures heading into halftime, 39-27. 

The Panthers raced out of the locker room and a good layup from Kitrys gave the hosts a 15 point lead at 45-30. The Panthers would continue to pile on the pressure as a layup by Jackson brought them to the 50 point mark, and took a 50-32 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the game. The Owls then went on a tear and scored seven consecutive points to close the gap to 50-39. 

The Panthers would push their lead to 10 behind another layup from Kitrys with six minutes left in the game and added to this lead 62-49 behind a three-pointer from Mannix. While the Owls outscored the Panthers 36-33 in the second half, consecutive free throws by Ofili put the game on ice for the home team, 72-63. 

Offensively, the Panthers were led by three players in double figures. Sade Jackson recorded a triple-double, scoring 15 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out 14 assists. Kelly Mannix led the way in terms of scoring for the Brown and Gold, recording 16 points and adding eight rebounds; Jessica Kitrys rounded out the trio, adding 14 total points. 

The Panthers will return to the court on Tuesday, November 20th when they host the Chargers of the University of New Haven at 5:30 p.m.