After trailing by one at halftime, the Adelphi University women’s basketball team found the shooting touch in the second half on the way to a 79-57 Northeast-10 Conference Championship Final victory against American International. It marks the first NE-10 Championship in program history.
The victory also ties the season-high for wins in a season for the Adelphi (28-3) program with 28. Anh-Dao Tran scored all 20 of her game-high points in the second half to go along with four assists to earn the Championship’s Most Valuable Player Award. Kelly Mannix joined Tran on the NE-10 All-Championship team after a 14-point performance today.
The Yellow Jackets (18-15) were led by 18 points from Brianna Bishop, including four 3-pointers. Krista Ferrentino added 14 points, nine rebounds, and four steals.
The first half played out in championship fashion with 10 leads changes and six ties with neither team growing a lead larger than four points.
The Panthers held advantages in both points in the paint, 20-10, as well as fast break points, 10-2. However, a Kamika Mason layup with 51 seconds remaining afforded the Yellow Jackets a 30-29 halftime lead.
Mannix led all scorers behind nine points while Calli Balfour added seven for the Brown and Gold in the first half.
Alyssa Roach registered seven points for American International with Ferrentino contributing six points, five rebounds and three steals.
Mannix quickly regained the lead for the Panthers just five seconds into the second half with a corner three off the inbound. After the Yellow Jackets took back the lead, Tran propelled the Brown and Gold ahead with 10 of the team’s next 12 points.
After a Bishop 3-pointer to cut the Panther lead to two points at 48-46, Adelphi rallied off an 11-2 spurt in a little more than four minutes. The Brown and Gold continued its momentum to an advantage as large as 20 points in the final moments and close out the championship victory.
The team will host eighth-seeded Holy Family University (20-10) on Friday in the first round of the Division II NCAA East Regional at the Center for Recreation and Sports, located on the campus of Adelphi University in Garden City.
