NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Result
Saturday, January 5, 2008
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Delmara Reece |
Mavericks Upend Adelphi 67-59 in ECC Women's Basketball
DOBBS FERRY, NY - Freshman forward Delmara Reece (Yonkers, NY) recorded her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, while junior guard Christina Baxter (Greenwood Lake, NY) also netted 16 points and handed out five assists to lead the Mercy College women's basketball team past Adelphi 67-59 on Saturday. The Mavericks improved to 3-9 overall and 3-3 in East Coast Conference (ECC) play, while the Panthers fell to 5-6 overall and 3-1 in league action.
Reece hit 6-of-12 from the field and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Baxter went 4-for-7 from the field and 8-of-9 at the charity stripe. Freshman forward Ashley Finnegan (Worcester, MA) added 14 points on 7-of-13 from the field and picked up five boards for the Mavericks.
Junior forward Serita Lee (Freeport, NY) and senior forward Gianna Smith (Hempstead, NY) each registered double-doubles for the Panthers. Lee scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Smith netted 15 points and hauled in 13 caroms.
The first 20 minutes saw four ties and six lead changes. With Mercy holding a 17-15 edge midway through the first half, Adelphi regained the lead on a three-pointer from senior guard Mary Lepore (Manhasset, NY), and built a four-point margin at 21-17 with 9:02 to go. The Panthers stretched the gap to as many as eight, 29-21, on a Smith layup with 6:01 left in the half, but Mercy scored the final eight points, getting four from Finnegan, to knot the game at 29-29 heading into the break.
A layup by Baxter to open the second frame scoring gave Mercy a 31-29 lead, but the Panthers went on an 8-0 spurt to regain the advantage at 37-31. The lead changed hands five more times from there until the Mavericks went ahead for good, 50-49, on a pair of Baxter free throws with 7:48 remaining in the contest. Mercy extended the gap to as many as nine on two occasions, the last at 66-57 with 25 seconds left.
Mercy shot 42 percent from the field on the day, including 50 percent in the second half, while holding Adelphi to only 34 percent from the floor, and posted a 44-37 margin in the rebound column.
The Mavericks will be back in action again on Wednesday, January 9, when they travel to Molloy for another ECC contest beginning at 5:00 p.m.
