The Adelphi University women’s basketball team concluded its historical campaign Saturday evening with a 85-83 loss to cross-town rivals LIU Post at Bentley University’s Dana Center.
The squad ended with a 23-8 overall record and returned to the NCAA Division II East Regional tournament for the first time since 2001. The Pioneers will continue on to the NCAA Division II East Regional championship game and face the winner of the Bentley University/Stonehill College matchup.
Leading Adelphi offensively was senior Sade Jackson, who accounted for 26 points in her final collegiate contest. Jessica Kitrys added 22 and Calli Balfour chipped in 11 points and 13 rebounds. The team was nearly perfect at the free-throw line, shooting 24-26.
The final two minutes saw the Panthers fighting for a chance to advance to the championship game. Jackson drained both of her free throws and finished a layup to bring her squad within one, 84-83. After Chelsea Williams made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, the Brown and Gold pushed down the court, calling a timeout with three seconds left. Inbounding the ball under the basket, the Panthers would be unable to beat the buzzer as time expired, and the win went to the LIU Post Pioneers.
Women’s Tennis
The Adelphi University women’s tennis team played host to the Hawks of Saint Anselm College Friday afternoon and bolstered by the performances of Charlotte Moreau and Katarina Barborikova, recorded a 7-2 win over a conference foe to improve to 4-4 on the season and 3-0 in the Northeast-10. The Hawks fall to 0-5.
Moreau and Barborikova teamed up to record an 8-1 win at first doubles, and Joanna Haich and Gaby Adia recorded an 8-2 at the second spot. After the Hawks’ team of Christine Woods and Katherine Morrissey recorded an 8-3 win over Bianca Bernal and Taylor King, the Panthers saw themselves leading 2-1 heading into singles play.
Moreau again proved dominant in the top spot, as she recorded a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Morrissey. Barborikova followed with a mirror 6-0, 6-0 win at second singles, as did Adia at fourth singles. To seal the deal for the Panthers, Haich recorded a 6-2, 6-1 win in the third spot.
Men’s Tennis
The Adelphi University men’s tennis team played host to the Hawks of St. Anselm College on Friday afternoon and proved too strong for the Hawks, scoring a lopsided 9-0 victory. With the win, the Panthers improve to 3-4 on the year and 2-0 in the Northeast-10, while the Hawks drop to 0-5 overall and in conference play.
The Panthers were led by standout performances by both Sander Brenner and Chiwete Njokanma, as both players did not drop a game in either their singles or doubles matches. Brenner recorded a 6-0, 6-0 win at first singles, and partnered with Uladzislau Litvinchuk to win at second doubles by an 8-0 score. Njokanma and Justin Vijungco recorded an 8-0 win at third doubles, before he recorded a 6-0, 6-0 win took at fourth singles and.
With the match already decided by the point, Litvinchuk and Vijungco also did not drop a game in their singles matches and fifth and sixth singles were decided in Adelphi’s favor by victories in 8-0 pro sets.
Women’s Lacrosse
On a frigid Monday evening, the Adelphi University women’s lacrosse team hosted St. Thomas Aquinas College in a non-conference contest on Motamed Field. The Panthers registered more than 40 shots to pick up a 19-0 victory over the Spartans. The win improves Adelphi to 5-0 overall as they hand STAC their first loss, falling to 4-1.
Jackie Jahelka led the way for Adelphi offensively with five goals and two assists, while both Alexa Froccarao and Devan Crimi had six points each. Froccaro netted four goals and added two assists, while Crimi found the back of the St. Thomas net on three occasions and picked up three helpers. Rachel O’Brien, Danielle Jaycox and Kate Beier also had multi-goal games with three, two and two respectively.
Defensively, Jaycox led the way with three caused turnovers, while Crimi, Meg Brown, Jacqueline Williams, Beier, and Kelly Osmulski caused two turnovers each. Froccaro had a team-high four ground balls and Ryley Weber, Williams and Jen Graham collected three and Felicia Mills led all players with seven draw controls. Taylor Hayes stopped one shot on the evening, and was credited with her fifth win of the year.
All-American
Adelphi University junior Angela Mongitore took to the track in the 400-meter dash final on Saturday, March 15 in Winston-Salem, NC at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship. Mongitore placed third in her heat and sixth overall in the final, earning status as an All-American.
Mongitore earned her spot in the 400m final with an eighth place showing in the prelims, with a time of 56.46. She bettered her time by almost a second in the final, posting a time of 55.54, good enough for third in her heat.
This was Mongitore’s first trip to the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship meet and she becomes the first Panther to earn All-American honors since Mychael Fabio did so in the same event at the Outdoor Division II National Championship meet in May of 2012.
