WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOPPLES ADELPHI IN ECC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL, 67-49

Box Score vs. Adelphi - March 4, 2009

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Mar. 4, 2009) - Junior guard Tatiana Lopez (Lakeview, N.Y.) scored a game-high 17 points on Wednesday night as the third-seeded Molloy College women's basketball team rolled past sixth-seeded Adelphi University, 67-49, in the quarterfinal round of the East Coast Conference Tournament at Quealy Gymnasium in Rockville Centre, N.Y. With the win, the Lions went to 21-6 overall, and advanced to Saturday's semifinal.

Tied at 2-2 with just under 19 minutes to go in the first half, Molloy recorded a 13-0 run during a span of 3:02 to take a 15-2 lead with 15:44 left. Senior forward Katelyn Dunn (Bethpage, N.Y.) had the first six points on a pair of lay-ups and a jumper. Junior forward Kymira Woodberry (Boston, Mass.) capped it off with a lay-up. Lopez added one of her three trifectas at the 16:56 juncture.

Adelphi (13-15) responded with an 8-0 spurt in a span of 2:23 to cut the deficit to 15-10 with 12:39 remaining. Senior guard Jasmine Travers (Gaithersburg, Md.) and senior forward Serita Lee (Freeport, N.Y.) posted a combined eight points to anchor the burst. They each converted a three-point play. Travers also drained a jumper on an assist from freshman forward Theresa Foley (Lake Grove, N.Y.).

The Lions quickly tallied eight of the next nine points afterwards off of a pair of three-pointers from the wing by Lopez and a lay-up by sophomore forward/center Shauna Wilson (West Hempstead, N.Y.). That burst put them up by a count of 23-11 with 10:06 left. One minute later, the Panthers, who were behind 25-14, got an 8-2 streak going over a time of 2:33 to bring the margin back to five (27-22) with 6:01 to go. Travers kicked things off with a three-point play, and wrapped it up with a lay-up.

Molloy ended the stanza with a 9-1 run to head into the locker room with a 36-23 advantage. Dunn and junior guards Lisa Abitante (Brooklyn, N.Y.), E.J. Dreyer (Floral Park, N.Y.) and Clarissa Jones (Boston, Mass.) each netted free throws in the spurt. Lopez put up a lay-up as well. She was 7-for-14 (50.0 percent) from the field in the contest.

In the second half, neither squad was able to hit a bucket in the first 2:39. The Lions then drew up an 8-0 burst during a two-minute stint to go up 44-23 with 15:16 remaining. Woodberry and Jones each notched two lay-ups to account for the scoring. From that point, Molloy never looked back as the closest AU came was 12 points (53-41) on a three-point play by senior guard Lisa Manetta (Glendale, N.Y.) with 7:28 to go.

The Panthers answered MC at the time though with their own 11-3 streak in a span of 3:28 to bring the count to 47-34 with 11:35 left. Parks led the way with seven points in the run on a trey, lay-up and two free throws. Sophomore forward Ashley Caiafa (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) added a jumper to the effort.

The Lions shot 50.9 percent (28-for-55) from the floor and 72.7 percent (8-for-11) from the charity stripe. In addition to her 17 points, Lopez amassed seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Woodberry notched her 21st double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Dunn finished with 10 points and three rebounds. Jones totaled nine points, three rebounds and two assists. Abitante earned seven points and two rebounds.

Dreyer grabbed five rebounds, passed four assists and swiped three steals. Wilson had an amazing night off of the bench with five rebounds, four points and one assist. Senior guard Jenna McLaughlin (Carle Place, N.Y.) checked in with four rebounds, three assists, three steals, two points and one block.

As for Adelphi, it was 18-of-62 (29.0 percent) from inside the arc and 10-of-15 (66.7 percent) from the line. Lee posted a double-double performance with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Caiafa, Travers and senior guard Danielle Parks (Galloway, N.J.) had 10 points apiece as well. Parks also dished out four assists.

Foley raked in seven rebounds, three points and one block. Manetta compiled six points and two rebounds. Junior guard Keri Schumacher (East Northport, N.Y.) gathered four steals and three rebounds.

Molloy will now head to Garden City, N.Y. for the semifinals of the East Coast Conference Tournament. It will battle second-seeded Dowling College on Saturday afternoon at the Center for Recreation and Sport, which is located on the Adelphi campus. Tip-off is slated for 2:30 p.m. During the regular season, the Lions and Golden Lions each won their respective home games to split the series.