JONES AND WOODBERRY TEAR UP ADELPHI DEFENSE; WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WINS 74-65

Box Score vs. Adelphi - February 14, 2009

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Feb. 14, 2009) – Junior guard Clarissa Jones (Boston, Mass.) and junior forward Kymira Woodberry (Boston, Mass.) combined to notch 39 points as the Molloy College women’s basketball team ousted Adelphi University, 74-65, on Saturday at Quealy Gymnasium in Rockville Centre, N.Y. Jones raked in 20 points. Woodberry had 19 points in addition to her 13 rebounds for the Lions.

The Panthers (11-12, 8-6 ECC) started up the contest with a 6-0 spurt over a time of 2:07. Freshman forward Theresa Foley (Lake Grove, N.Y.) as well as senior guards Lisa Manetta (Glendale, N.Y.) and Jasmine Travers (Gaithersburg, Md.) all made free throws in the run. Senior forward Serita Lee (Freeport, N.Y.) added a lay-up at the conclusion of it.

Shortly thereafter, the Lions (19-3, 13-1 ECC) still trailed by six as the game nearly reached the 12-minute mark. But, they tallied five straight points to cut the deficit to one with 11:21 remaining. Junior guard E.J. Dreyer (Floral Park, N.Y.) began the scoring with a lay-up. Woodberry ended it with a three-point play after a great drive through the lane, which was followed by an easy two in the basket.

But, AU answered with four quick points to bring the lead back up to five with 9:05 left. Senior guard Danielle Parks (Galloway, N.J.) put up a lay-up and Manetta drained a jay. Four minutes later, with MC trailing by six off of a Travers free throw at the 5:28 mark, the Lions recorded an 8-3 spurt over a time of 2:10 to deadlock the score at 28-28. Woodberry accounted for four of the points. Senior forward Katelyn Dunn (Bethpage, N.Y.) added three.

Eventually, Molloy went into the locker room with a 33-31 advantage off of a Jones lay-up with seven seconds to go.

Adelphi kicked off the second half by registering the first four points on jays by Manetta and sophomore forward Ashley Caiafa (Massapequa Park, N.Y.). But, the Lions answered with a 9-0 burst in a period of 2:04 to go up 42-35 with 16:47 remaining. Dunn posted a pair of lay-ups following a couple of nice moves inside the paint. Jones contributed three makes from the stripe. Woodberry added a lay-up as well.

Later on, with nine-plus minutes left in regulation, the hosts still led by a reasonable margin at 50-45. Molloy then put the game to bed with a 7-2 run over a span of 2:21 to grab hold of their largest lead of the contest at 59-47 with 7:06 to go. Jones kicked things off with two  lay-ups. Woodberry continued with a lay-up as well. Junior guard Tatiana Lopez (Lakeview, N.Y.) closed the spurt with a three-ball from the wing.

For the contest, the Lions shot 42.1 percent (24-for-57) from the floor and 75.0 percent (24-for-32) from the free-throw line. Lopez had another strong performance off of the bench with 11 points and five rebounds. Junior guard Lisa Abitante (Brooklyn, N.Y.) totaled nine points, five rebounds and one steal. Dreyer collected eight rebounds, six points, two assists and two steals. Dunn registered seven points, four rebounds and two assists.

As for the Panthers, they were 23-of-49 (46.9 percent) from field-goal range and 16-of-28 (57.1 percent) from the charity stripe. Five different players for AU scored in double figures. Manetta had a team-best 16 points with four assists and three steals. Parks posted 12 points. Lee earned 11 points, eight rebounds, six steals and two assists. Foley and Caiafa checked in with 10 points and eight rebounds apiece.

Head Coach Tim O’Hagan and his squad have now tied the single-season record for wins. Molloy will try to break it on Wednesday in a crucial ECC match-up at Dowling College in Oakdale, N.Y. The opening tip is scheduled for 5 p.m.