Box Score

Old Westbury, N.Y. (Dec. 1, 2007) – Adelphi University held off a late NYIT rally and Lisa Manetta scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Panthers to a 73-64 win this afternoon in East Coast Conference women’s basketball action. The loss drops the Bears to 1-3 on the season and 0-2 in the conference while Adelphi improves to 2-3 overall and 2-0 in the league.

The Bears opened the contest by jumping out to a 6-0 lead after the first two and a half minutes, but Adelphi responded by scoring the next seven points, including four straight from Gianna Smith, to grab a 7-6 lead with 15 minutes remaining. Adelphi would lead by as many as five points before sophomore Tanisha Naughton’s (Westbury, N.Y.) lay-up brought NYIT to within 23-21 at the 6:52 mark. The Panthers took control at that point, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to build a 10 point lead, 33-23, with just three minutes remaining in the half and Adelphi went into halftime ahead 41-31.

The Panthers Mary Lepore scored 13 first half points while senior Brittany Smith (Hempstead, N.Y.) led NYIT with nine points.

A three pointer from Manetta with 9:03 on the clock in the second half capped a 20-7 Adelphi run and gave the Panthers their largest lead of the game, 65-48. The Bears chipped away at the lead and trailed 67-54 with just over six minutes remaining. NYIT’s defense kicked in and held Adelphi without a field goal the rest of the way, but NYIT would only get as close as 69-64 with :40 seconds left on the clock.

Freshman Lauren Caggiano (Holtsville, N.Y.) recorded her second career double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds for NYIT in the loss. Smith finished with 15 points and senior Emilly Bolling (Palmer, Alaska) added 14 points.

Mary Lepore scored 18 points, shooting 11-13 from the foul line, and Gianna Smith added a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

The Bears return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 5, traveling to Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Pa. for a 7 p.m. contest.