Albany, N.Y. – Ola Shajuyigbe and Ashley Rath combined for 35 points to lead The College of Saint Rose to a 54-44 win over the Le Moyne College women's basketball team on Tuesday night in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.

With the victory, the Golden Knights earn half of a point in the year-long "Upstate Challenge" between the two institutions to increase their lead to 6.5 to 2.5 through 10 contests. The other half of the point will be awarded to the winner of the January 31 meeting in Syracuse.

Senior forward Katie Hart (Constantia, N.Y./Central Square/Canisius) led the Dolphins with 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Emily Greer (Corry, Pa./Corry) came off the bench to score eight points and grab four rebounds in 18 minutes of action.

Rath registered 14 of her 16 points in the opening half, while Shajuyigbe tallied 10 of her 19 points in the first half. Ali Johnson led all players in the game with 12 rebounds, while Gabie Polce dished out five assists.

Shajuyigbe scored the game's first five points with a three-pointer and then a jumper before the Dolphins answered with five straight points in a jumper by Hart, a free throw by senior center Emma Cronk (Parham, Ontario/Sydenham/Binghamton) and a fast-break lay-up by freshman guard Alex Marple (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro).

The Golden Knights regained the lead as Rath scored seven straight points on a three-pointer and two jump shots. After senior guard Morgan Rowland (Latham, N.Y./Shaker/Delaware State) made a lay-up to pull the Dolphins within 12-11 with 10 minutes remaining in the half, Saint Rose scored seven straight points to pull away. Johnson hit two free throws, Rath nailed a three-pointer and Maria Sanchez capped the run with a jumper.

Hart and Rowland made lay-ups on consecutive possessions to make the score 19-15 with 5:42 left, but the Golden Knights scored nine of the next 11 points. Rath and Shajuyigbe hit consecutive jumpers, Johnson made two free throws and then Shajuyigbe buried her second three-pointer of the half.

Rath followed two Torie Lee (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) free throws with two of her own with nine seconds left to give the Golden Knights a 30-21 lead at halftime.

The Dolphins opened the second half with seven of the first nine points to pull within four and force a Saint Rose timeout. Hart started the scoring with consecutive put-back lay-ups and junior forward Emily Bayly">Emily Bayly (Schenectady, N.Y./Niskayuna) sank a three-pointer to make the score 32-28 at the 16:38 mark.

After the teams traded baskets, leading to a 41-35 Saint Rose advantage, Polce registered a conventional three-point play, Shajuyigbe made a lay-up and Sanchez converted a lay-up to give the Golden Knights their largest lead of the game with 5:21 remaining.

Bayly scored four straight points to get her team's deficit to nine, but that's as close as they would get. Greer made four free throws in the final three and one-half minutes around a lay-up by Polce, two free throws by Shajuyigbe and a jump shot by Alison McGrath to deliver the game's final score.

Le Moyne (1-2, 0-2 NE-10), which has dropped seven straight games to the Golden Knights, returns to the court for its home opener on Sunday against 22nd-ranked Assumption at 1:00 p.m.