In one of the waning games of the regular season, the grind of extra time wore the Setters down.
The Setters lost in overtime to the Panthers of Adelphi 65-57 on Wed. On the season, Pace has a record of just 1-4 when games go into overtime and, unfortunately, the Setters needed to win this one.
Both teams played on an even keel throughout the first half. While Pace outscored Adelphi 26-21, neither team had a lead larger than six points before half time.
The Setters roared out to an 8-2 run to ignite the home crowd in the second half. With 16:18 to go in the second half, graduate communications major Jessica Scannell knocked down a jump shot to give the Setters an 11-point lead.
From that point on, the Panthers seized control of the second half. Jessica Kitrys scored 17 of her 30 points in the second 20 minutes of play to reduce the Setters lead and ultimately swing the score in Adelphi’s favor.
The Setters were able to counter the effort of Kitrys with the help of one of their forwards. Graduate political science major Brittany Shields notched 12 of her 18 points in the second half and was also able to pull down five rebounds.
While the slugfest that was the second half wore on, the Setters found themselves down by two points with less than a minute to go in regulation. With just 29 seconds left to go, sophomore special education major Margo Hackett hit a layup in order to knot the score at 55-55 and send the game to overtime.
Although it was a 10-2 run in overtime that sealed the win for the Panthers, there were almost no glaring statistical differences between Pace and their opponent.
Adelphi shot 40 percent from the field compared to Pace’s 39 percent and held that slim advantage in shooting percentage throughout the rest of regulation. The Setters and Panthers each had 21 turnovers in the game and both managed 28 points in the painted area.
Still there were two advantages that broke the Panthers way when the game was over. Adelphi out-rebounded Pace 42-34 throughout the game. The Panthers also delivered 25 crushing bench points compared to zero from the Setters.
With the loss, the Setters have an overall record of 13-11 with a record of 11-9 in the Northeast-10. Pace currently sits in the number six position in the conference standings and has a shot at making the postseason with some help.
Pace will bid farewell to their seniors on Sat. Feb. 23 as they play the Greyhounds of Assumption College in their last home game of the regular season.