Garden City N.Y. - The Adelphi University women's basketball team returned for their twelfth Northeast-10 Conference matchup against Merrimack College on Saturday afternoon in the Center for Recreation and Sports. After taking an eleven-point lead at the half, the Panthers opened up in the second half and came away with a 93-74 victory. The win improves the Brown and Gold to 17-2 overall and 10-2 in the conference as the Warriors fall to 10-7 and 6-6 in league play.
Kelly Mannix led all scorers with a total of 29 points for the Panthers behind 79 percent shooting from the field (11-of-14), including seven rebounds and five steals in the win. Jenna Halaby and Anh-Dao Tran each scored in double-figures, with 10 and 19 points, respectively. They each were perfect at the charity stripe, combining to go 8-8. The Warriors had three players in double figures, with Chloe Rothman leading the way with 16 points.
To start the first half, Mannix got the Panthers on the board with a layup 30 seconds in. Merrimack immediately answered with a jump shot by Chloe Rothman to tie the score at 2-2 at 19:06. Both teams racked up close points in a 10-7 back-and-forth point challenge. However, the Panthers took the lead at 16:07 for a 12-9 score. The Blue and Gold battled for the lead position, with minimal shot opportunity. For the duration of the half, Adelphi kept a close lead before a Gomez layup at 1:38 took their lead gap to 11. The Warriors fought for points, but were denied chances. On the final possession, a Mannix layup closed out the first half with a 53-42 lead for the Panthers.
A Brown and Gold layup by Brenner took the board to start the second half. The Warriors quickly followed with a jump shot made by Caitlyn Garger to close the lead gap at 19:08. In the following four minutes, the Panthers racked up 11 points, keeping a strong 20-point lead of 66-46 at 15:39. Merrimack attempted to take hold of points, but fell to Panther defense.
For the remainder of the game, Adelphi held a strong offense line up to maintain the lead. The Panthers interchanged consecutive threes from Mannix to space the lead. In a game where both teams were given numerous foul shots, the Warriors had a successful free throw on final possession. However, the Brown and Gold took the victory by a final 93-74 decision.
The Panthers return to action on Tuesday, January 27 in NE-10 conference action against Franklin Pierce University at the Center for Recreation and Sports at 5:30 p.m. For a free HD broadcast, courtesy of TD Bank, visit aupanthers.tv. To follow along with livestats, click here.
