Syracuse, N.Y. - Led by 28 points by
Anh-Dao Tran, the #6 Adelphi University women's basketball team took to the court in its first game of the 2015 calendar year, and defeated the Le Moyne College Dolphins 91-68 at Ted Grant Court in Syracuse on Saturday afternoon.
Tran's career-high came courtesy of a 10-18 performance from the floor, including shooting 4-7 from behind the arc for Adelphi (13-0, 6-0 NE-10), which had four other players score in double figures.
Kelly Mannix,
Jenna Halaby and
Calli Balfour all added 15 points, while
Sierra Clark picked up her second straight double-double with 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Le Moyne (8-5, 2-4 NE-10) was led by Alex Marple, who tallied 15 points, and three others in double figures.
The Brown and Gold came out firing on offense, and three three-pointers from Tran helped Adelphi push to a 20-3 lead by the 13:39 mark. After a Mannix layup doubled Adelphi's lead to 30-15, the Dolphins cut the lead to nine, 32-23, behind an 8-2 spurt that was capped by an Emily Greer three-pointer with 6:08 to play.
The Dolphins would get no closer in the first frame as a 9-3 run by Adelphi, featuring five points from Balfour and buckets from Mannix and Brenner, allowed the Panthers to take a 42-26 lead with just over three minutes to play. Out of a Dolphins timeout, the visitors continued to play at a high tempo and scored six of the final eight points to take a 48-28 lead into halftime.
A Greer three kicked off the Green and Gold's scoring in the second half, and an 11-5 run in just over two minutes by the home team saw them cut the lead to 53-39 and force an Adelphi timeout. The two teams traded points over the ensuing minutes, but Le Moyne pulled to within 10, 61-51, behind seven straight points at the 9:55 mark.
The Adelphi lead shrunk to eight as Maggie Brown made two free throws after getting fouled by Mannix two minutes later, but 10 unanswered points by the Brown and Gold restored an 18-point advantage with 5:32 to play. With the Panthers firmly in front, the Dolphins got no closer than that 18-point margin en route to an 91-68 Brown and Gold win.
The Panthers return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 7 when they travel to Easton, Mass. to take on Stonehill College, the Northeast Division leaders, in a 5:30 p.m. NE-10 contest.
