Women's Hoops Suffers Setback at Adelphi, 54-45
GARDEN CITY, N.Y.- The Merrimack women's basketball team dropped a 54-45 victory Saturday afternoon at Adelphi. The loss levels the Warriors' record at 7-7 overall and 5-5 in the Northeast-10. The Panthers improve to 7-8 on the year and 4-7 in the league with the victory.
Gennifer Roy (Granby, Mass.) paced Merrimack with 14 points on the day. Sarah Benischek (Shrub Oak, N.Y.), Kelly Schatzlein (Tolland, Conn.) and Chelsea Shea (South Burlington, Vt.) all finished with nine points for the Warriors. Katie Ganser (Needham, Mass.) and Benischek were Merrimack's top rebounders with each pulling down eight boards.
The Warriors jumped out to a 6-2 lead after 1:30 of action. Adelphi used an 11-0 run to gain a 13-6 edge six minutes into the game. Roy drained a three-pointer with 14 ticks left on the clock in the first half to cut Merrimack's deficit to six at the break, 28-22.
The Panthers came out of the intermission and tallied seven straight points to extend their lead to 13. The Warriors chipped away at the Adelphi lead and knotted the score at 39-39 on a lay-up by Schatzlein midway through the second stanza.
Merrimack went ahead on a trey courtesy of Roy with less than eight minutes remaining. The Warriors pushed the margin to six with five minutes left to play. The Panthers clawed back into the game and regained the lead heading into the final two minutes.
Adelphi converted eight-consecutive free throws in the waning 60 seconds to seal the nine-point victory.
"We came out a little slow but our team did a good job of battling back and we just couldn't hang on to the lead," said head coach Helen Williams.
Merrimack shot 26% from the field and outrebounded the Panthers by a 52-49 edge. The home team connected on 31.6% of its field goal attempts.
The Warriors will make a return trip to the Empire State January 19 to square off against Saint Rose in a Northeast-10 Conference contest.
