Waltham, Mass. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team scored a program-record 97 points en route to defeating defending national champion Bentley University, 97-80, on Wednesday night in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Dana Center.

The win is just the third in 30 all-time meetings with the Falcons and it is the first since a 65-59 victory on February 26, 2002 in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship quarterfinals, snapping a streak of 16 consecutive losses. Le Moyne's only other victory in the series came just 45 days earlier, 63-51, at Ted Grant Court. The win also marks Le Moyne's first in 13 all-time regular season match-ups at the Dana Center.

The Dolphins had three players register at least 22 points as part of the record-setting scoring output. The previous record for points in a game was 94 against Oneonta State during the 1982-83 season. It is just the sixth time in the 39-year history of the program that the Dolphins have tallied at least 90 points and the first since the 1999-2000 campaign. Le Moyne finished the contest shooting 65.5-percent from the field, which is the best mark by the program in over 13 seasons. The team's 38 made field goals are also the most by the program in over 13 seasons. After not hitting the 60-percent mark once over the previous 12 seasons, the Dolphins have now done it twice in 14 games this season after posting a mark of 61.9 against Saint Rose on November 22. In the opening half, the Dolphins registered 58 points, which is more than they'd scored total in 24 of the previous 29 meetings with the Falcons and at the time was their most in the series since January 14, 2009. The 58 points are the most ever allowed in a single half by the Falcons. The Dolphins shot an incredible 76.7-percent in the stanza, connecting on 23 of their 30 shots, including 5-of-8 from three-point range.

Senior forward Tessa Pucello (Syracuse, N.Y./Solvay) came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points in just 19 minutes of action, including 16 points in only six first-half minutes. She connected on 9 of her 12 shot attempts in the game, including a 5-of-8 performance from behind the three-point stripe. Senior guard Alex Marple (Covington, Pa./Wellsboro) and junior guard Vandell Andrade (Cranston, R.I./St. Mary's-Bay View/Rhode Island College) each posted 22 points in the contest. Marple reached the 20-point plateau for the sixth time this season, while Andrade did so for the first time. Marple added a team-high four assists to her scoring total, while Andrade grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and had three steals. Senior forward Emily Greer (Corry, Pa./Corry) was the fourth Dolphin in double figures with 10 points, while adding seven rebounds.


Jen Gemma, one of only two significant contributors back from last year's run to the national championship and the current scoring leader in the Northeast-10, led the Falcons in the setback with a game-high 26 points, 14 of which she scored in the second half, while pulling down a game-best eight rebounds. Lauren Green also tallied 14 of her career-best 23 points in the second, while adding four rebounds and two steals.

The Dolphins, who never trailed in the game, jumped out to an 11-5 lead just 4:15 into the contest, forcing Hall of Fame head coach Barb Stevens to burn her first timeout. Andrade scored the first five and the last four points in the stretch, while Marple knocked down a jumper in the paint.

Bentley closed its deficit to 15-12 with 12:53 left on a Green jumper, but the Dolphins answered with five straight points for their first double-digit lead of the contest. Marple made a lay-up and then junior guard Lauren Salzbrenner (Sheboygan, Wisc./Sheboygan North) buried a three-pointer at the 11:26 mark.

The Falcons answered back with nine of the next 12 points to get back within four, but again the Dolphins countered by scoring nine consecutive points for a 34-21 advantage with 6:27 left. Andrade had a conventional three-point play, senior forward Bath-Sheba McMahon (Queens, N.Y./Grambling Laboratory (La.)/Weatherford College) converted a jumper in the paint and then Marple made a pair of lay-ups in 21 seconds.

After the Falcons outscored the Dolphins 14-11 over the next four minutes, Le Moyne closed out the half with a 13-6 run to take a 58-41 lead into the intermission. Greer started the run with a three-pointer and then Pucello scored 10 consecutive points over the last 99 seconds. She hit back-to-back three-pointers from the top of the key and then made back-to-back lay-ups.

The Falcons tried to get back into the game on a pair of occasions over the opening 11 minutes of the half, but the Dolphins wouldn't break. Gemma had a three-point play and a three-pointer around a conventional three-point play by Green over the first 2:50 of the second half to get the Falcons within 10 and force a Le Moyne timeout.

The Dolphins answered back out of the timeout with an 11-2 run over a span of 3:07 to take a 19-point lead for the first time. Greer had five of the points, Andrade made a pair of lay-ups and freshman guard Austin Stevens (Adams Center, N.Y./South Jefferson) converted a lay-up.

Following two points from each team over the next 1:45, Bentley mounted one last push with a 12-2 run to get within single digits with 9:05 to play. Gemma had half of the streak's points, while three other Falcons chipped in two points each.

Following a timeout, the Dolphins regained control of the game with 10 consecutive points in just 1:55. Pucello ignited the run with back-to-back three-pointers from the left wing, Andrade followed with a lay-up and then Pucello hit a pull-up jumper from the foul line for an 85-66 lead with 6:48 to play.

The teams then traded mini runs over the final six and one-half minutes. After Kristin Brown made a lay-up to get Bentley within 91-74 with 3:36 left, the Dolphins scored six straight points to finish off their scoring. Sophomore guard Ailayia Demand (Watervliet, N.Y./Watervliet) made two free throws, Andrade had a steal and lay-up to eclipse the scoring record and then Marple finished off the team's scoring with two free throws.

Green and Jane White hit back-to-back three-pointers in the final 71 seconds to deliver the final margin.

Le Moyne (9-5, 3-4 NE-10), which has won nine of its first 14 games for the second straight year after not doing so since the 2002-03 season, is back on the hardwood on Saturday against Saint Michael's College at 12:00 p.m.