Box Score
Colchester, Vt. - The Adelphi University women's basketball team was held to a season-low 43 points in a 64-43 loss to Saint Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Ross Sports Center on Saturday. The loss snaps a four-game win streak for the Panthers, who fall to 9-4 overall and 6-3 in the NE-10. The Purple Knights earned their second conference win in a row to improve to 4-9 overall and 2-7 in league play.
Adelphi stood second in the NE-10 in scoring average with 75.5 points per game entering today's contest, but Saint Michael's held the Panthers to 37 percent shooting (19-52) from the floor and a frigid 3-18 mark from 3-point land. Adelphi also shot just two free throws, which is believed to be the fewest attempts in a game by the Panthers in the modern era. The Purple Knights fared better from the field, hitting 46 percent of their shots and sinking 11-16 free throws.
Jessica Kitrys led the Panthers in scoring for the second straight game, posting 16 points on 8-12 shooting while grabbing six rebounds.
Sade Jackson scored nine points but was held to a season-low two assists, and
Kelly Mannix, currently second on the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game, was held scoreless for just the second time in her career.
For Saint Michael's, Megan Olsen scored a career-high 23 points on 10-17 shooting while snagging five steals. Nicole Adach posted 22 points and went 8-11 from the floor and 6-7 from the free throw line. The victory marked Adach's sixth game of the season with 20-plus points and the first time this year the Purple Knights saw two players reach the 20 point plateau.
The Panthers found themselves in a 33-14 hole after the first half, marking the fewest points in a single half by Adelphi since scoring 13 in the first half of a 70-45 loss at Pace on Feb. 2, 2011. Within the first minute,
Jenna Halaby knocked down the only two Adelphi free throws of the game and gave the Panthers their only lead of the contest, which would quickly vanish at the hands of a 16-2 run by Saint Michael's. The Purple Knights seized their largest lead of the half on an old-fashioned three-point play by Adach, who laid in a bucket despite getting fouled by Kitrys and sank the free throw to put Saint Michael's up 33-14.
Olsen proved to be the difference maker in the first half, dropping 13 points on 6-10 shooting. Kitrys hustled to keep her team afloat with 10 first half points, but the Panthers could not overcome the initial deficit despite a narrow 31-29 second half margin.
The Saint Michael's advantage swelled to a game-high 25 points two minutes in the second half on a pair of Adach foul shots. A quick 6-0 run fueled by two-point buckets from Jackson, Kitrys and
Melanie O'Brien cut the deficit to 19, but the Purple Knights stood firm to outlast Adelphi despite an improved second half showing.
Ifeanyi Ofili rolled in a layup and
Lauren Nuss drained a 3-pointer for a 5-0 swing that brought the Panthers within 16 with 3:12 to play, but the visitors got no closer as Saint Michael's held Adelphi without a field goal for the remainder of the game.
The Panthers, just one win shy of matching last season's NE-10 win total, travel to UMass Lowell on Tuesday for a league showdown at 5:30 p.m.
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