Springfield, Mass. -- In a hard-fought contest from beginning to end, the fifth-seeded Adelphi University women's basketball team gave top-seeded American International all they could handle in the Northeast-10 Championship quarterfinal round on Sunday afternoon, before the Yellow Jackets pulled out a 94-83 win at Butova Gymnasium.

Senior Tara Flynn set a new school record as she knocked down seven three-pointers for a career-best 21 points to lead Adelphi (18-12) on the afternoon and a total of six players in double figures for the Panthers -- including all five starters. Sierra Clark put in 13 points, anchored by a perfect 7-7 at the free throw line, while Ashley Gomez scored 12, Calli Balfour and Samantha Brenner added 11 each and Lauren Nuss rounded out the group with 10. The Yellow Jackets (24-4) got a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds from freshman Dana Watts, and also had three others score in double figures. 

Flynn's first triple of the game gave Adelphi a 7-2 lead just 59 seconds into the first quarter, a period in which the Brown and Gold shot 53% from the floor to establish themselves against the Southwest's top seeds. An 11-3 scoring run that spanned nearly three minutes gave the Panthers a 10-point lead, 19-9, at the 3:42 mark and the visitors remained in front, 26-19 at the close of the first period. With the two teams evenly matched to open the second, as the Panthers matched perfect free-throw shooting from the Yellow Jackets with buckets of their own, Nuss knocked down a trey from behind the arc to restore Adelphi's game-high lead of 10, 35-25 with 6:26 remaining until halftime. 

An 8-0 run over the next two minutes for the hosts made it a one-possession game at 35-33, but a 12-7 run that saw Flynn hit three more from behind the arc and Gomez knock down another kept the Yellow Jackets at bay and held the lead at seven, 47-40, with just over two minutes to play. From that point, senior All-Conference performer Brianna Bishop -- the Yellow Jackets' leading scorer -- found her touch, and put in seven of the hosts' eight points -- including two at the buzzer -- in an 8-3 run that shaved Adelphi's lead to two at the break, 50-48. 

With the game in the balance, the Panthers' last lead of the game came at 62-61 with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter as Clark converted on a bucket and one after getting fouled by Kamika Mason; from that point, however, the hosts scored eight of the final 12 points of the frame to take a 69-66 lead as the game headed to its finale. 

An 8-5 edge in scoring, capped by a Balfour jumper that tied the game at 74-74 with 7:05 remaining, started the final period off for the Brown and Gold, but a 9-2 run for AIC -- one which saw Watts make 5-6 from the free throw line -- quickly gave the hosts their largest lead of the game to that point, 83-76, with 4:17 to go. Adelphi was unable to get much closer, and although Flynn's seventh and last bucket from behind the arc brought the Panthers to within six with 1:02 to go, the Yellow Jackets sealed the win by converting at the charity stripe in the final minutes. 

AIC moves on to the semifinal round NE-10 Championship on Wednesday, where they will face New Haven (#3 SW) who upset Saint Anselm (#2 NE) earlier on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Panthers await next Sunday's NCAA Selection Show to see if they have earned one of the top eight seeds in the East Region.

NOTES
- Flynn's school record of seven made three-pointers breaks the mark that Nuss tied earlier this season in a victory over Southern New Hampshire.
- The Panthers reached the NE-10 Tournament for the fourth straight season in 2015-16. 

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About Adelphi University Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past six seasons has collected 16 regular season conference titles, 21 tournament championships, 27 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 President's Cup twice (2013 and 2014), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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