Syracuse, N.Y. – Kristen Drogsler and Antoinette Pilla combined to hit 10 three-pointers to lead Caldwell University to an 84-75 victory over the Le Moyne College women's basketball team in the season opener for both teams on Friday night on the first day of the NE-10/CACC Challenge at Ted Grant Court.
Senior guard
Ailayia Demand (Watervliet, N.Y./Watervliet) led the Dolphins in the setback with a career-best 23 points, 12 of which came in the first half, while adding five rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard
McKayla Roberts (North Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) opened her collegiate career with 16 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and six steals, while classmate
Liz Millea (Cooperstown, N.Y./Cooperstown) recorded 12 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists. Junior forward
Joanna Dobrovosky (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles) registered her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Drogsler led the Cougars in the victory with 24 points, including 16 in the first half, while adding five assists and four rebounds. Pilla tallied 12 of her 23 points in the first quarter, while finishing the contest with four rebounds and a pair of assists. Andie Lennon tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Sharell Sanders posted 10 points and three rebounds.
After the Dolphins jumped out to a 7-2 lead over the first 2:14 of the game, the Cougars responded with a pair of 11-0 runs around a 5-0 Le Moyne spurt to take a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. Pilla accounted for 12 of the 22 points with four three-pointers, while Drogsler tallied eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.
Following a Millea jumper to start the second quarter, Caldwell scored seven straight points to take a 15-point lead, with all seven points coming from Drogsler (4) and Pilla (3).
After the teams split the next eight points over three and one-half minutes, the Dolphins tallied a 15-2 run to trim their deficit to two with 1:17 left in the half. Demand had five of the points, while Roberts and freshman forward
Colleen Corcoran (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) each had four points.
Caldwell scored the last four points of the half to take a 45-39 lead into halftime.
The Cougars got a lay-up from Karlie O'Driscoll to start the scoring in the third quarter before the Dolphins answered with a 9-2 run to get within one point with 6:42 left in the period. Five Dolphins accounted for the nine points in the span.
The teams traded runs over the last six minutes of the quarter as the Cougars took a 62-56 lead into the final quarter.
Caldwell scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Drogsler registered half of the points, while Lennon also nailed a three-pointer.
Following eight points from each team over 4:17 resulted in an 80-64 Caldwell lead, the Dolphins tallied 11 of the last 15 points of the game. Millea, Roberts and Demand each drained three-pointers in the comeback attempt.
Le Moyne (0-1), which dropped its season opener for the first time since the 2010-11 season, returns to action on Saturday against Holy Family University at 5:00 p.m.
