Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University women's basketball team earned the eighth seed in the Northeast-10 Championship Tournament and will host #9 American International College in first round action at the Center for Recreation and Sport on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The game marks the Panthers' first playoff appearance since the 2008 season and the first postseason bid since joining the NE-10.

Adelphi finished the regular season with a 14-12 overall record and 11-11 mark in NE-10 play, both of which are the best records under third year Head Coach Heather Jacobs. The Panthers started strong, winning nine of their first 12 games, but a six-game losing skid in January knocked them into the lower half of the league standings. Adelphi stopped the bleeding with a crucial victory over St. Anselm on Feb. 2 and went on to win five of its last eight games to secure a playoff spot.

Panthers to Watch

Juniors Jessica Kitrys and Sade Jackson have combined to power the Adelphi offense this season. Kitrys leads the team and is second in the NE-10 with 17.2 points per game while pacing the Panthers with 7.5 rebounds per game and a .505 field goal percentage. Jackson has been essential in creating scoring opportunites and leads the nation with 7.4 assists per game. The junior co-captain did her fair share of scoring as well, posting 12.4 points per game and recording three consecutive triple-doubles earlier in the season.

Kitrys and Jackson rewrote the Adelphi history books this year, knocking down a handful of decade-old records. Kitrys became the program's 20th player to score 1,000 career points, and tied Adelphi's single-game scoring mark of 36 points, originally set by Kellie Dunlay in 1992. Jackson's crafty passing helped her become the school's single-season and all-time assists leader. She broke Jeanne Miller's single-season record of 158 set in 1990 and the career assists record of 402 set by Jen Bille in 1994.

After a stellar freshman campaign, sophomore Kelly Mannix has steadily provided an outside scoring threat for the Panthers, knocking down the most 3-pointers in the NE-10 with 66. Classmate Samantha Milhaven and freshmen Tara Flynn and Lauren Nuss are all shooting over 30 percent from behind the arc, helping Adelphi drain the third-most treys in the conference.

Scouting American Int'l

Four players handle the bulk of the scoring for the Yellow Jackets, led by Kristen Ferrentino, a 6-foot sophomore forward who averages 12.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Alyssa Roach can score and distribute as evident by her 11.2 scoring average and 4.6 assists per game, while Sydney Tepley is the team's top rebounder with 9.6 boards per game. Sarah Noble, who scored 21 points against Adelphi in January, serves as AIC's top long distance threat, averaging 9.7 points per contest while shooting at a .409 clip from 3-point land.

Trends

Both squads ended the regular season on brief win streaks. AIC won three of its last four games, while Adelphi took four of its last six.

Regular Season Series

Friday's contest provides Adelphi with a favorable matchup after defeating the Yellow Jackets twice already during the regular season. The Panthers topped AIC 77-73 in Springfield on Jan. 5 and earned a 68-59 home win on Feb. 10.

The first meeting saw Adelphi shoot over 85 percent from behind the arc in the second half to break a half-time tie. Balanced scoring led the Panthers to victory thanks to double-digit scoring from four of their five starters.

In February, Kitrys turned in a career-defining performance, lighting up the Yellow Jackets for 36 points and 11 rebounds on her way to cracking the 1,000-point milestone. The visitors simply could not contain Kitrys, who went 14-18 from the floor and made 8-11 free throws.

You can follow the game with live stats or catch all the action via webcast at www.aupanthers.tv.
 
Ticket prices are as follows: Adults-$8, Seniors and Children-$5, Students from the Northeast-10 with valid ID-$1.