Waltham, Mass. - The Le Moyne College women's basketball team held off the Bentley University Falcons to capture their second NE10 road win of the season on Tuesday, defeating the Falcons by a score of 53-50 in the Dana Center behind another double-double from Emma Brinker (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora).

"That was intense," said Le Moyne Head Coach Mary Grimes after the win. "Bentley is a great team, great coaching staff. You gotta bring it when you come here. They've already won a national championship, and that's what we're looking to be, and that's what we talked about. Coming into this environment, historically they've been really good. Going to Ashland definitely helped us out, just playing in that environment as well. Kudos to the team just for sticking with it and fighting to the end."

"Very proud of the fight the team had down the stretch... we knew we would have to defend the three. We struggled in the first half but gave an amazing effort in the last two quarters to close out on the shooters. We continue to be relentless on the boards and get second-chance opportunities when the plays break down. It really shows the determination they have to win," added Coach Grimes.

Brinker tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in 20 minutes of action. Junior guard Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) finished the conference battle with 12 points, five rebounds and two steals, while Saeeda Abdul-Aziz (Schenectady, N.Y./Mohonasen/Davidson) contributed 10 points, four rebounds and two steals to the Le Moyne cause.

Abdul-Aziz scored six of her points during the first period on a three-point field goal and an old-fashioned three-point play to help the Dolphins jump out to a 16-10 lead after the first ten minutes.

During the second period, Bentley guard Ella Thompson drained two three-point field goals and reserve guards Hartlee Meier and Janessa Gonzalez each knocked down one, as the Falcons outscored the Dolphins 13-11 during the period and entered the halftime locker room trailing 27-23.

Brinker got busy during the third period, scoring five points and pulling down five rebounds during the quarter. Lexi Gruss (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) also made an impact during the penultimate quarter, scoring four points and securing two rebounds during the period. 

The Dolphins entered the fourth quarter with a 41-37 lead.

A Jenna Zimmerman (Adams, N.Y./South Jefferson) layup with 4:17 remaining in the contest gave Le Moyne a 49-42 advantage. 

The Falcons responded by scoring six straight points, via a Kylie Ducharme layup, an Ella Thompson jumpshot, and two Autumn Ceppi free-throws, to cut the deficit to 49-48 with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter. 

Fouracre made a free-throw at the 0:52 mark to stop the run and make it 50-48 in favor of the Dolphins.

Zimmerman grabbed a defensive rebound off a missed jump shot from Thompson during the ensuing Falcons possession, and Fouracre drilled two more free-throws at the other end to make it a two-possession game with under 30 seconds remaining. Fouracre finishes the contest with nine points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Bentley scored a layup with 14 seconds left in the quarter to make it 52-50. The Falcons denied the inbounds pass, came up with a steal underneath Le Moyne's basket, and successfully called for a thirty-second time out, regaining possession with a chance to tie the game. 

With six seconds remaining Thompson got off a clean look from behind the three-point line, but missed off the front rim and Le Moyne's Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) came up with the defensive rebound.

Roberts was fouled and made one of two free-throws to give the Dolphins a 53-50 lead.

With three seconds remaining the Falcons once again had the ball with a chance to tie the game. Once again they got the ball to Thompson on the perimeter, but Zimmerman contested her shot perfectly and the attempt was off the mark, giving Le Moyne their second conference road victory of 2022. 

The Le Moyne College women's basketball team improved to 8-2 overall and 6-1 against NE10 competition following the win, while the Falcons dropped to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in conference.