Garden City N.Y. – After concluding the regular season with an 18-2 conference record and the Southwest Champion crown, the Adelphi University women's basketball team hosted No. 5 SW Le Moyne College in their postseason opener Sunday afternoon. After leading the Dolphins 52-38 at the half, No. 1 SW Adelphi took the game by an 82-70 decision.
 
For Adelphi (26-3, 18-2 NE-10), recently named All-Conference First Team selection  Kelly Mannix came close to double-double numbers with 19 total points, and nine rebounds. Three other Panthers found themselves in double-figures as Anh-Dao Tran and Calli Balfour, both All-Conference selections, chipped in 20 and 10 points, respectively, while Samantha Brenner accounted for 14 points, behind 6-9 shooting from the field.
 
The Dolphins (17-13, 10-10 NE-10) had four players reach double-digit points, with NE-10 All-conference player Alex Marple leading the way with 19 points. Vandell Andrade, Emily Greer and Bath-Sheba McMahon were responsible for 15, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Forty seconds into the first half, Le Moyne's Greer nailed a three-pointer for the first points of the game. With their leading momentum, the Dolphins found room for a layup at 18:41 to jump out to 5-0. An 8-0 run in favor of the Brown and Gold gave the hosts their first lead of the game, which they maintained throughout both periods.
 
With a consistent back-and-forth battle, both teams received points within seconds of each other, before a Gomez jump shot at 12:28 spread the point gap to seven for a 21-14 score. Mannix and Tran contributed consecutive threes to up the ante of the Panther offense, advancing the score to 36-26 in the duration of five minutes. On the final possession, the Dolphins were left with the final shot opportunity, but still trailed 38-52, despite a successful lay-in by Maggie Brown.
 
Both teams were head-to-head for points to open the second half; the Dolphins with eight and the Panthers with 10. With offensive forces, Adelphi took hold of their position to dent the board at 13:02 from a Brenner layup. Holding their stance at 61-49, the Panthers kept the ball from the Dolphins. The Brown and Gold dipped into the 70-point mark at 4:39, from a Balfour jump shot for a 71-58 score. The Dolphins were consistent with attempting to break the +10 point deficit and found success in the final minute and a half, but foul trouble sent Adelphi to the charity stripe. Tran and Gomez combined to go 7-8 at the line and seal the deal for the Panthers, with an 82-70 final decision.
 
With the win, Adelphi will host the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Semifinals on Thursday, March 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the Center for Recreation and Sports. Traveling to Garden City will be the No. 2 NE Franklin Pierce Ravens who defeated No. 3 SW Southern Connecticut in quarterfinal action Sunday afternoon.
 
For a complete schedule of the 2015 Northeast-10 Women's Basketball Championship, click here.