Garden City, N.Y. -- Powered by a combined 52 points by Sierra Clark and Calli Balfour, the Adelphi University women's basketball team made it a baker's dozen of wins in a row on Saturday afternoon, beating the Merrimack Warriors 66-60.

Clark, who with her 26-point, 10-rebound performance became the 23rd member of the program's 1,000 point club, recorded her 14th double-double of the season for Adelphi (17-2, 12-0 NE10), while Balfour also scored 26 and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds. The Panthers out-rebounded the visiting Warriors (9-9, 7-6 NE10) by a 47-33 margin, with Merrimack getting 13 points from Savannah Johnson and 11 from My'Asia Alston.

In an opening quarter that saw two ties and two lead changes, the Panthers sprinted out after a 10-10 tie over the final 4:10 with a 15-4 run to take an 11-point lead after the first 10 minutes. Balfour scored nine points over the run to pace all scorers, while Clark sunk a pair from the line and Julia Gnieser knocked down a deep trey. The second quarter flipped the script, as the Warriors' defense held the Panthers to just eight points and their offense scored 13 to whittle away the lead from a half-high 13 to six at the break, 33-27.

The third quarter saw Adelphi break the 20-point mark again in the period, out-scoring the Warriors by a total of 21-13. While a Johnson layup cut Adelphi's lead to four to start the period, the Panthers proceeded to run off 12 of the next 14 points to restore a double-digit lead, with a Clark jumper with 5:15 remaining ending the stretch and making it 45-31 in favor of the home team. Back-to-back threes from the Warriors stemmed the tide briefly, but the Panthers scored seven of the final 10 in the frame to lead by 14 headed to the final period.

Pressure from the Warriors in the final 10 minutes, including a trio of three-pointers over a stretch of five possessions saw the visitors close to within eight, 65-57 with 2:11 remaining, but they were unable to get any closer as the Adelphi defense stepped up, and only allowed two shots from the floor from Merrimack in the remainder of the game.

The Panthers return to action as the spring semester gets underway on Tuesday, Jan. 24 when they host the Hawks of Saint Anselm College in NE10 action at 5:30 pm. 

NOTES
- Clark joins Balfour in the 1,000-point club, as the latter joined it in Adelphi's second game this season -- a win over LIU Post.
- Clark leads the nation in double-doubles with 14.

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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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