Women's Basketball: Alive After Nine

by Mark Ginocchio

Nine was the lucky number for Adelphi University's women's basketball team entering the new year.  After a somewhat mediocre 2-4 start this season, the Panthers stormed back winning nine games in a row, starting on December 11, with a 96-71 win against Molloy College, and ending with a 88-67 loss to the hands of Philadelphia University on January 22.  The streak apparently had proven that the women were for real, as they played on and faced the number one team in the nation, Saint Rose.

Heading into the matchup, St. Rose was one of only four remaining undefeated teams through the entire Division II ranks.  As the game was underway, St. Rose showed why they were so highly touted.  They went on an early 15-2 run to lead 15-4 and led by as many as 21 points twice throughout the first half.  The Panthers were able to cut the lead to 19 by halftime.  With about 16:40 left in the second hand, Adelphi's Kerry Hamill nailed a jumper that cut the St. Rose lead to 13 but that would be as close as the Panthers would get.  The Golden Knights fought back, and led by as many as 27 points.  The final score was 73-51.  Hamill finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in the losing effort.

The Panthers showed their resilience when they traveled to Rockville Centre to face off against Molloy on January 29.  With the help of freshman Eliana Armijos' 10 first half points, AU was able to mount a 31-19 lead.  Molloy started to climb back but the Panthers mostly kept control of the contest and were able to preserve a 63-56 victory.  Kerry Hamill finished with a game high 18 points and Alexis Seely added 12 points and 10 rebounds.  The following Monday, Adelphi returned home to play an intense game against Dowling.

Early on against the Golden Lions, the Panthers weren't hitting their shots but after four lead-exchanges and Kerry Kennedy's four straight points, AU went into halftime with a 23-19 edge.  Kennedy struck again in the second half when she hit a jumper with  14:09 left to give AU the 34-27 lead.  Dowling came back to tie the game, but Alexis Seely helped the Panthers fight back, scoring seven straight points and giving the home-team the lead 41-38.  Seely struck again with the game tied at 47 when she drained a three-pointer, which gave the Panthers their final lead of the game.  AU went on to win 56-53.  Seely finished with 17 points and Meghan Moran had a good all-around game with 10 points, 6 boards and 6 assists.  The win was important for Adelphi because it helped to avenge an earlier 55-50 loss the women experienced from the hands of Dowling.

The next game for the Panthers proved to be a laugher.  The women traveled to Bronxville, NY to face against Concordia and came out with a 102-46 victory, the first time this season the Panther reached the century mark.  The Panthers' suffocating defense held the Clippers to just 29.6% shooting.  Hamill had a team high 25 points and 13 boards and Seely contributed 15 points and six rebound.  The following game on February 5 against New York Tech proved to be a bit more challenging for the Panthers.  The two teams were tied at 26 with about 5:30 remaining in the first half until AU went on a 13-2 run to go up 39-28 at the end of the half.  Seely and Hamill led the way again, finishing with 24 and 18 points respectively.  The win was the third in the row for Adelphi.

On February 8, the Panthers returned home to win a tight contest against Queens College.  The two teams exchanged leads in the first half until Adelphi closed out the first 20 minutes with a 34-33 lead.  With 8:25 remaining and the score tied at 52, AU began a 10-4 run in the next two minutes.  The Knights cut the Panther lead to 3 with about 4 minutes remaining but Adelphi kept Queens at bay and went on to win 75-63.  Alexis Seely notched her ninth double-double of the season with her 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Kerry Hamill added 18 points and Meghan Moran had 16 points and four assists in the victory.  The win put the Panthers at 16-7 for the season overall and 14-5 in the NYCAC.

Despite the two bumps in the road against St. Rose and Philadelphia, the Panthers seem to have the right stuff to go far in the NYCAC tournament at the end of this month.  Their nine game win streak coupled with their current four game win streak prove that new Coach Kim Barnes-Arico has the team pointed forward once again.