Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University women's basketball team, ranked No. 16 in the most recent edition of the WBCA Division II Coaches' Poll, used an 11-point first-half lead and a late close to defeat Pace on Wednesday night at the Center for Recreation and Sport,  64-54.

Sierra Clark remained among the nation's leaders as she recorded her 16th double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Panthers (19-3, 14-1 NE10), while Calli Balfour posted 19 points and seven rebounds, just missing a double-double of her own. For the second straight game, Niajah Morgan contributed for the Brown and Gold off the bench, with six points, a team-high six assists and eight rebounds. The Setters (10-13, 4-11 NE10) were led by 23 points from Alexandra Monteleone, and Jackie Dellisanti with 10 points.

At the start of the first quarter, a Julia Gnieser three-pointer gave Adelphi an immediate lead, before an answer from Monteleone tied things up for Pace. As Adelphi went cold from the floor for three minutes, the Setters took the lead with a 7-0 spurt, but an 11-3 run the other way, powered by Clark and Sierra Schrader gave Adelphi the lead back, 13-10. The scoring streak continued in Adelphi's favor to end the period, as the run ended at 18-5, as a Gnieser three pulled Adelphi to an eight-point lead with seven seconds left to close out the first. In second quarter, the Setters made numerous efforts to come back and close the point gap, which grew to as high as 16, but couldn't find room to close to within more than seven. At the end of the half, thanks to five straight points by Pace, the Panthers ran with an 11-point lead, 36-25.

A Monteleone jumper opened the second half, as eight straight points closed the point spread for Pace and made it a three-point game at 36-33. The Setters remained close for the duration of the third and to start the fourth, but a 9-0 run for the Panthers midway through the fourth quarter pushed their lead back to 13, 57-44 with 4:57 remaining. The Blue and Gold never came back with a run to close the spread to single digits, which led the Panthers to their 19th win of the season.

The Panthers return to action at the Center for Recreation and Sport on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1:30 pm against Southern Connecticut State.

NOTES
- Clark is tied with AIC's Dana Watts for the national lead in double-doubles, while ranking third in the NE10 in scoring and second in rebounding.

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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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