Garden City, N.Y. - The No. 3 seed Adelphi University women's basketball team nearly overcame an overwhelming 19-point first-half deficit in an eventual 61-58 loss to sixth-seeded Franklin Pierce University in the first round of the 2022 NE10 Championship on Saturday at the Center for Recreation and Sport.

The loss wraps up Sade Jackson's inaugural year as head coach at 12-12 overall. Adelphi won eight of its last 12 games this season, following a 4-8 start.

The Panthers found themselves in a 21-8 hole after the opening quarter and trailed 27-8 in the second, before closing the gap to 37-28 at the half.

A media timeout with 3:54 to go was the turning point of the game.

Coming out of a break in which Adelphi was behind 50-37, the Panthers closed out the quarter on a 10-0 run that made it a one-possession game with a quarter left to play.

Rolanda Robinson saw her first action since Feb. 12 and scored six points in the spurt, including a transition three that brought the hosts within 50-46.

Robinson dropped 11 of her career-high 16 points in the third quarter. In 21 minutes off the bench, Robinson also pulled down three rebounds and shot 6-of-12 from the field.

Although Adelphi was within a bucket of tying the game, the Panthers never evened the score.

The Brown and Gold were 4-of-19 from the floor in the fourth quarter, but Robinson nearly sent the game to overtime with two near-miss threes from the corner as time expired.

In her final game as a Panther, Emily Miccile posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and added to the stat sheet with four points, three steals and four blocks. Ty'zhea Hawkins found herself in double figures, pouring in 11 points. Emma Cuccurullo came down with a game-high-tying 11 rebounds, nine of which were on the offensive glass.

For more information on the Adelphi women's basketball program, please continue to visit AUPanthers.com.