Garden City, N.Y. - Climbing uphill for nearly the entire evening, the Adelphi University women's basketball team nearly came all the way back against the Devils of the University of the Sciences, ranked 20th in Division II, on Tuesday night before falling, 67-63, inside the Center for Recreation and Sport.

Adelphi (4-3), which trailed by double figures both in the second quarter and at the close of the third, made it a one-possession game late in the fourth, but a costly turnover with 1:01 on the clock with the Panthers down two at 58-56 with a chance to tie saw the Panthers' upset bid denied.

The Panthers held a 38-28 edge in rebounding, thanks in large part to the efforts of Natalie Fekula and Emily Miccile on the boards, who each chipped in 10 and four combined blocks. The senior forward in Fekula also added eight points, with the freshman Miccile scoring all seven of her points in the fourth quarter as Adelphi sought to make a comeback.

Simone Hobdy was Adelphi's leading scorer for the second straight contest with a team-high 14, along with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Niajah Morgan added 11 before fouling out in the fourth, and Jess Camarda chipped in 10. Off the bench, freshman point guard Katie Murphy net a season-high nine, along with two rebound, an assist and a steal.

The Devils (4-0) showed why they have been ranked in the nation's Top 25 every week so far this season, making nine of their first 10 shots of the game - for the duration of the first quarter - en route to taking a 24-15 lead. Five of the nine made field goals were three-pointers for the visiting team over the first 10 minutes.

Adelphi battled back in the second period, halving the Devils' offensive output thanks to impressive, pressing defense, and whittling away at the deficit with strong shooting. Seven of Camarda's 10 for the contest came over the final 5:33 of the half, and she sank her second three of the night with 39 seconds on the clock to put Adelphi in the locker room trailing by two, 35-33. 

The Brown and Gold continued to press out of halftime, responding to tie the game three times over the first four-plus minutes of the third, and took its first lead since 5-2 on a pair of Fekula free throws with 5:08 on the clock in the period (42-41). However, the Devils held Adelphi scoreless from there, re-stamping their authority on the game with an 11-0 run to head to the fourth.

With Adelphi down seven (58-51) at the 2:21 mark on a layup from Sarah Abbonizio, part of her game-high 24-point effort, the Panthers' rally began to take shape.

Hobdy laid the ball up and in for two on Adelphi's next possession, and an offensive foul on the Devils led to a five-point swing in favor of the Panthers. Miccile took a deep three from straight on, seeing it rattle around the hoop, off the backboard and in to make it a two-point game.

On USciences' next possession, Camarda swiped the ball away from Alex Thomas, but a miscommunication under the basket led to Adelphi throwing the ball out of bounds, and Colleen Walsh connected on a right-side three-pointer for USciences down the other end to again make it a two possession game at 61-56.

Though Adelphi made a basket on offense on each of its final three trips down the floor, the Devils went a perfect 6-of-6 at the line over the final 30 seconds to seal victory.

The Panthers are back in action on Thursday, Nov. 30 when they take a quick trip over to Rockville Centre to take on the Molloy Lions at 5 p.m.

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About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past eight seasons, has collected 25 regular season conference titles, 26 tournament championships, 33 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), while winning six NCAA Division II National Championships.

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