The No. 3 ranked Adelphi University women’s basketball program needed their home court advantage Saturday afternoon to hold off a game Saint Anselm, 69-64. The win improved the Brown and Gold to 14-1 overall and 7-1 Northeast-10 Conference action. Saint Anselm drops to 4-10 overall and 2-7 in league play.
Leading the offense for Adelphi was Anh-Dao Tran, who scored a team-high 16 points and five assists and also grabbed two steals. Two other Panthers found themselves in double figures as Calli Balfour and Kelly Mannix each contributed 15 points, combining for 11 rebounds. Sierra Clark grabbed a team-high seven boards in the victory. For the Hawks, Caitlyn Abela led all players on the court with 18 points.
Adelphi took timeout at 13:21 after Saint Anselm layed the ball in to take a 14-9 lead in the first half. A Tran drive to the basket brought the Panthers within one of the Hawks, who were shooting 46 percent from the field. A Lauren Nuss-to-Halaby combo gave the Panthers their second lead of the game, 15-14.
Back-to-back free throws at the line for Andrews brought the Hawks right back in it, but not before a quick jumper by Brenner maintained a 28-25 lead. A quick look from Tran to Balfour under the net, followed by a Balfour steal gave Adelphi the 34-31 advantage. Heading into the locker room, Adelphi held a 36-33 lead over the visitors, shooting 50 percent from the field and matching rebounds and steals with the Hawks.
Right out of the gate in the second half, Mannix shot back-to-back three-pointers to take control, 42-35. At 14:44 Adelphi took nearly a double-digit lead off another Tran shot from downtown. At their largest lead of the second half, a layup by Halaby with 5:18 remaining had the Hawks trailing by 16 points. Foul trouble late in the second half opened the door for the Blue and White to get back in it, as they went 11-11 at the charity stripe, to push the final score to 69-64 in favor of the Brown and Gold.
After hosting the Bentley Falcons Wednesday, Adelphi is back on the road Saturday, traveling to Worcester, MA to take on Assumption College. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
