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Le Moyne College Athletics

wbbBrinker
Greg Wall
63
Assumption ASM 8-9,5-8 NE10
74
Winner Le Moyne LEM 11-3,9-2 NE10
Assumption ASM
8-9,5-8 NE10
63
Final
74
Le Moyne LEM
11-3,9-2 NE10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Assumption ASM 16 20 15 12 63
Le Moyne LEM 19 16 22 17 74

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | James McGlynn, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BOUNCES BACK WITH 74-63 WIN OVER ASSUMPTION

Syracuse, N.Y. – Senior forward Emma Brinker (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) delivered an outstanding performance on Saturday afternoon as the Le Moyne College women's basketball team returned to the win column with a 74-63 Northeast-10 Conference victory on Ted Grant Court over the visiting Greyhounds of Assumption University.

Brinker poured in 28 points - the most she's scored during a home game in her career - grabbed 10 rebounds, including eight offensive boards, recorded two steals and blocked a shot during 26 minutes of action. Her nine double-doubles on the season so far is the most of any player in the 37-team region. 

"I just liked how we played together," said Le Moyne Head Coach Mary Grimes after the game. "We had 18 assists. No game is ever easy in this conference. Assumption is a really good team, well coached, and it was a hard-fought win. I think we carried over our second half adjustments, we got into a little bit of foul trouble early, but we cleaned it up in the second half. We just keep pounding the glass, I love that about the team. Even though things weren't falling we just stayed at it. I'm happy with the outcome, for sure."

Assumption graduate guard Meghan Cramb scored nine points in the first quarter, and the Greyhounds trailed 19-16 after 10 minutes. Senior guard Lauren Hammersley carried the baton for the Greyhounds during the second quarter, scoring 11 of her 14 first half points during the period as Assumption outscored Le Moyne 20-16 during the second frame.

Brinker scored 10 points during the second quarter to help Le Moyne weather the storm.

The Greyhounds held a 36-35 advantage going into halftime.

The Dolphins battled back during the third quarter and with under four minutes left in the period they held a 48-42 lead.
At the 3:49 mark of the third quarter, Le Moyne senior point guard Erin Fouracre (Loudonville, N.Y./Colonie Central) limped off the court with an apparent leg injury and headed to the locker room for further evaluation. Fouracre eventually returned to the game, but in the moment the Dolphins were uncertain about whether their point guard would be able to check back into the game and had no choice but to focus on the Greyhounds who were nipping at their heels.

The veteran-laden 'Phins did not just hang onto the lead with Fouracre on the sidelines, they extended it.

When play restarted, Saeeda Abdul-Aziz (Schenectady,N.Y./Mohonasen/Davidson) immediately attacked the basket and scored from the paint. Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) converted two free-throws, then 30 second later made a nice move to the basket, spun and knocked down a fallaway jumper inside the paint. At the 1:57 mark of the quarter junior guard Lexi Gruss (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) drained a timely three-pointer to give the Dolphins a 57-47 lead.

"Fortunately and unfortunately, COVID hit us early and a lot of players had to step up and play positions they don't normally play, so moving Toya to point guard when Erin went down [with an injury during the third quarter] it was just like clockwork for us. So (Baker) was able to run the point and get everyone where they needed to be, and that came from our Ashland game where she stepped up, played point guard. We just never missed a beat [with Lytoya at point today] so it's really good that we have options if Erin goes down, even though she's the key and she's our anchor."

Baker finished the gamed with 11 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and a career-high five steals.

Hammersley scored in the paint with 0:21 left in the period to cut the Assumption deficit to 57-51 going into the final quarter.

Gruss hit another important three-point field goal at the 8:09 mark of the fourth quarter to extend Le Moyne's lead to 62-54. Gruss finished the game with a career-high nine points on 3-4 shooting from beyond the three-point line. The junior guard was also extremely active within Le Moyne's zone defense, deflecting passes and grabbing one steal during 24 minutes of action off the bench.

Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) also gave the Dolphins a jolt off the bench. The redshirt-freshman forward pulled down a career-high nine rebounds, dished out a career-best three assists, scored six points and fought extremely hard on the defensive end, coming away with two steals during 28 important minutes as part of the backend of the Le Moyne zone.

The Le Moyne defense was stifling during the fourth quarter, forcing five Assumption turnovers during the final 10 minutes of the game. Conversely, Le Moyne committed just four turnovers during the entire contest, a season-low for the Dolphins, and the least amount of turnovers committed by a Le Moyne team since February 25, 2018. 

The final act of Brinker's dominant performance came during the middle of the fourth quarter. The 6'2" senior forward scored three consecutive Le Moyne baskets from the 4:31 mark to the 3:12 mark to once again extend her team's lead into double digits.

The Dolphins eventually came away with a 74-63 Northeast-10 victory to improve to 11-3 overall and 9-2 against conference competition.

The Le Moyne College women's basketball will be back in action at home on February 1 when they battle The College of Saint Rose, a rematch of the November 23 matchup between the two NE10 sides, which resulted in a 73-72 Saint Rose overtime win.

 
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