Garden City N.Y. – The Adelphi women's basketball team opened up Northeast-10 conference play against Southern Connecticut in the Center for Recreation and Sport on Wednesday evening. Despite falling behind early, the Panthers managed to move ahead late in the first half resulting in an 81-63 victory over the Owls.

Adelphi (3-0, 1-0 NE-10) was led by 23 points from senior Kelly Mannix who shot 8-10 from the field. Classmate Jenna Halaby, completed her first double-double of the season with a total of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Anh-Dao Tran and Calli Balfour scored 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Southern Connecticut (0-3, 0-1 NE-10) had four players in double figures, led by Jackie Beathea with a total of 13 points. 

Halaby got the Panthers on the board with a successful layup 24 seconds into the game. The Owls maintained a strong fight taking the lead for eight minutes before consecutive threes by Tran, and Mannix, capped an eight-point run to reclaim the lead at 18-16 with 10:50 remaining.

Adelphi maintained the lead for the remainder of the half with a balanced offense. Starting at 6:43, Mannix scored eight of her nine first half points, finishing with a three, to put Adelphi at a 10 point lead of 33-23. The Owls continued to play the Panthers close for the duration of the half but a Tran jumper with less than a minute put the Brown and Gold in the locker room at a 37-29 lead.

To start the second half, Mannix alone embarked on a 7-2 scoring run to establish a double-digit lead. The Adelphi defense did not allow the Owls that many shot opportunities to close the gap, while continuing to display a well-rounded offense. Sierra Schrader came off the bench and scored on back- o-back possessions to increase Adelphi's lead to 53-36 at 12:50.

At 9:44, Taylor McLaughlin converted on a three point play to pull the owls to 59-45, but a three pointer from Tara Flynn quickly restored Adelphi's momentum. Following Beathea's layup for the Owls, Adelphi scored seven unanswered points to take a 20-point 69-49 lead at 7:09.

On the ensuing Adelphi possession, Halaby drained a left side three-pointer to push Adelphi's lead over 20 points. The Owls continued to challenge for the ball and outscored the Panthers 8-1 over the next three minutes to cut into the lead, and make the score 73-59. However, they would get no closer as Adelphi scored eight of the final 12 points to wrap up the 81-63 win.

The Panthers return to action on Saturday, November 22 against American International College in Springfield, Mass. at 1:30 pm.