Bloomfield, N.J. -- A 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter became a single possession late, but the Adelphi University women's basketball team held on for a 63-58 non-league victory over Bloomfield College on the road on Sunday afternoon.

Sierra Clark paced all scorers with a game-high 27 points for the Panthers (9-2), while Calli Balfour chipped in 19 points and dished out a team-high five assists along with Simone Hobdy. On the defensive side of the ball, Clark pulled down 11 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season while adding two steals and a block, while Balfour tied a career-high with seven steals. Bloomfield (6-4) was paced by a team-high 23 points from Tianna Smith, who went 7-12 from the field and 6-8 from the line.

The Panthers trailed for much of the first quarter after Clark scored the first bucket of the game just 12 seconds in, but a 10-3 run to close out the period put the Brown and Gold up two, 14-12, heading to the second period. In what was an equally tight second quarter, the Bears took a 29-27 lead off of seven straight points by Smith at the 1:15 mark, only to see buckets from Clark and Natalie Fekula restore Adelphi's two-point edge with six seconds on the clock. However, as time expired, Smith collected a missed three by Morgan Taylor and put the ball in the basket to tie the score at 31-31 at the half. Clark and Smith did the heavy lifting for their teams in the first 20 minutes, as the former scored 17 and the latter was right behind with 16.

Adelphi's defense held the Bears to just eight points in the third quarter, as the Brown and Gold scored 18 in the period to establish a 10-point lead, 49-39. A 10-0 run over four minutes at the midway point of the period was the key for Adelphi in the third, as Clark scored eight while Bloomfield registered five turnovers. While Smith hit a three with 13 seconds on the clock to stem the tide for the hosts, Julia Gnieser converted on a pair from the line to restore the double-digit lead heading to the fourth.

While Balfour scored the first bucket of the fourth to make it a 12-point game, the hosts put together a 10-4 run shortly after to edge closer, and a 7-2 push inside the final two minutes closed the gap to a 61-58 Panther lead when Smith buried a three with 41 seconds on the clock. However, Adelphi managed to take enough time off the clock on the ensuing possession and the Bears fouled, leading to Hobdy sinking both attempts from the charity stripe to make it a five-point contest with 13 seconds to go, as the upset attempt for the Bears fell short.

The Brown and Gold return to action at home on Dec. 29, hosting the University of Bridgeport in a 7 pm non-conference contest.

NOTES
- The Panthers are now 3-0 all-time vs. the Bears, with wins also coming in 1995 (72-64) and 2015 (84-70 2OT).
- Clark has scored in double figures in all 11 games for the Panthers thus far, averaging 19.4 per game.
- Adelphi held a 27-16 edge in points off turnovers, as Bloomfield turned the ball over 29 times. 

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About Adelphi Athletics:
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past seven seasons, has collected 20 regular season conference titles, 24 tournament championships, 29 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup three times (2013, 2014, and 2016), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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