Syracuse, N.Y. – Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year candidate Jen Gemma registered her 12th double-double of the season to lead Bentley University to a 64-54 win over Le Moyne College in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Court.

Senior guard Vandell Andrade (Cranston, R.I./St. Mary's-Bay View/Rhode Island College) was Le Moyne's only double-digit scorer with 15 points, while adding eight rebounds and four steals. Senior forward Maggie Brown (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) led the Dolphins with a season-high 12 rebounds, while scoring nine points. She moved into 15th place on the program's career rebounds chart with 533 and climbed to 25th place on scoring chart with 771 points.

Gemma, the conference's leading scorer and the second-best rebounder, tallied game-highs of 26 points, including a Bentley-record 17 in the first quarter, and 12 rebounds. Macchi Smith came off the bench to record 11 points and dish out a game-high five assists.

After Gemma scored the first three points of the game, the Dolphins scored eight of the next 10 to take a three-point advantage. Four of the points were scored by Andrade, while sophomore forward Joanna Dobrovosky (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles) scored the other four.

Gemma responded with a personal 12-3 run to give her team a 17-11 lead after one quarter of play. She made two three-pointers, two lay-ups and two free throws over the final 5:39 of the period, while Le Moyne's three points came from freshman guard Madison Purcell (Clifton Park, N.Y./Catholic Central).

Megan Lewis became the second Falcon to score in the game with a free throw eight seconds into the second quarter and Jane White followed with a fast-break lay-up to give the Falcons a nine-point advantage, 20-11, with 9:12 left.

After Smith nailed a three-pointer to put the Falcons up 23-15 with 5:57 remaining, the Dolphins scored eight of the last 11 points of the quarter to pull within 26-23 at halftime. Sophomore guard Ellie Leszyk (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads) buried a three-pointer, Andrade scored three points over two possessions and then Brown ended the half's scoring with a jumper.

Following three free throws by Gemma to push Bentley's lead to 29-25 at the 7:23 mark of the third quarter, the Dolphins scored five straight points to regain the lead. Sophomore forward Corinne Poitevien (Bardonia, N.Y./Paramus Catholic (N.J.)) made a lay-up and then senior guard Lauren Salzbrenner (Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan North) drained a three-pointer for a 30-29 edge with 6:18 left in the quarter.

Bentley answered with an 11-2 run to take the lead for good. Gemma scored the first four points, Lauren Green followed with a lay-up, Melina Kollia made a jump shot and Amy McConnell capped the streak with a three-pointer with 2:54 to go.

The teams then traded points over the remainder of the quarter as the Dolphins pulled within six on four occasions, including 46-40 at the end of 30 minutes of play.

Andrade got the Dolphins within four with a lay-up 31 seconds into the four quarter, but the Falcons rattled off 10 of the next 12 points to put the game away. Gemma and Victoria Lux each made lay-ups in the streak, while Green and Smith nailed three-pointers.

Le Moyne got within nine (60-51) on a lay-up by Andrade with 1:15 left, but Lewis made four free throws in 12 seconds to push the margin to 13 for the second time. Brown ended the game's scoring with a three-point play with eight seconds left.
 
Le Moyne (9-9, 6-6 NE-10), which beat the Falcons last January for just the third time in 30 all-time meetings, returns to action on Tuesday at Southern New Hampshire University at 5:30 p.m. The contest will be televised live on NESNplus (check local listings for availability).