Garden City, NY - The Adelphi University women's basketball program hosted the defending NCAA Division II National Champions, Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference action on Wednesday evening in the Center for Recreation and Sports. The Panthers held the Falcons to just 14 points in the first half to go on to win 77-45. The loss drops Bentley to 7-9 overall and 2-8 in league play as Adelphi improves to 15-1 overall and 8-1 in the conference. 

Leading all players was Kelly Mannix, who nearly missed a double-double finish with 19 points and eight rebounds. Two other Panthers reached double-figures as Calli Balfour and Sierra Clark scored 16 and 10 points, respectively, combining for 16 rebounds. High-scorer for the Falcons was Jen Gemma, accounting for 14 points and nine rebounds in the loss. 

Balfour started the first half off with a steal that jump-started a 9-2 run in favor of the Brown and Gold. A thirty second timeout by the visiting team resulted in a small 4-2 run but not before contributions by Mannix and Tara Flynn gave the hosts a 13-point lead, 21-8. The largest lead of the game came after a Clark jumper in the paint to make the score 38-12. Back-to-back free throws from Carlene Kluge were the final two points for the Blue and White as they headed to the locker room trailing by 26.

A lay-in by Mannix to start the second half gave the Panthers a 28-point lead which they maintained through the remainder of the game. Nine different Panthers came off the bench in the second half and combined for a total 15 points behind 6-of-14 shooting from the field. Leading in all offensive categories, the Brown and Gold also held a 7-6 advantage in steals and out-rebounded the Falcons by a 23-12 margin. 

The Panthers return to action on Saturday, January 17 in NE-10 cross-divisional action as they travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on the Greyhounds of Assumption College at 1:30 p.m. Livestats for the game are available here, and live coverage of the game can be accessed here.