Waltham, Maas. - Behind a career-high in scoring from Niajah Morgan, the Adelphi University women's basketball team battled for 40 minutes against the fifth-ranked team in the nation on the road on Wednesday night, but were unable to score an upset victory over the league-leading Bentley University Falcons, 78-66.

Morgan led the Brown and Gold with 20 points, setting a new career-best, as she played all 40 minutes with five rebounds and three steals and. Reigning Northeast-10 Co-Rookie of the Week Emily Miccile followed Morgan with 14 points, shooting 60% from the field, while Natalie Fekula was the third-leading scorer with 12 points and went 3-for-4 from three-point range.

The trio's effort, which saw them account for 27 of Adelphi's 31 first-half points, helped the Panthers take a game-high nine-point lead at the 7:54 mark of the second quarter in a rematch of last season's NE10 Championship. However, Adelphi fell victim to a furious effort from the Falcons (17-1, 11-1 NE10) prior to the half, as they outscored the Brown and Gold 14-0 over the final 3:21 before the break to take a lead they would never relinquish.  

The first quarter called for back-and-forth scoring for each team for majority of the 10 minutes, with neither side able to build a lead greater than one possession. At the start of the second quarter, Adelphi trailed by one until Morgan made a layup to put the Panthers up 14-13, which began a 13-4 scoring run that helped Adelphi build its biggest lead. 

Nonetheless, a layup from Miccile with 4:10 remaining was Adelphi's last basket of the half, and Bentley's momentum to end the half built as Cassie Smith and Trevena Bennett rattled in back-to-back three pointers to put the hosts up 40-31.

With Mali Klorczyk providing a spark off the bench, Adelphi used a 13-7 run over the first four-plus minutes of the third quarter to pull to within five, as Klorczyk sank a triple off a Fallyn Stephens feed to make it a 47-42 game. However, the Falcons once again took control, scoring nine of the last 10 points of the period to close the quarter with a 56-43 lead. The Falcons' lead built to a game-high 17 points over the Panthers in the fourth, and the Panthers were unable to close to less than seven the rest of the way.

The Falcons' victory marked a milestone for Head Coach Barbara Stevens, who became just the fifth women's college basketball coach at all levels to record 1,000 career wins. Bentley outscored Adelphi in all quarters except the fourth, where the Panthers beat the hosts 23-22 in the final 10 minutes, and out-rebounded the Panthers by a 46-39 margin, thanks in part to 16 from Victoria Lux.

Lux was also the Falcons' (17-1, 11-1 NE10) leading scorer with 17 points, pacing four starters and five total players in double figures. 

The Brown and Gold will stay on the road this weekend to take on Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon. The contest will begin at 1:30 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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