West Haven, CONN. – After the Le Moyne College women's basketball team dropped their Northeast-10 Conference matchup at Southern Connecticut State on Thursday, Head Coach Mary Grimes said she was going to rely heavily on her seniors to right the ship as the squad prepared for Saturday's conference battle at The University of New Haven, the team's second game in three days in Connecticut.

Grimes said that her upperclassmen understand the importance of each game in the Northeast-10, a statement validated by senior Jenna Zimmerman's (Adams, N.Y./South Jefferson) offensive sense of urgency on Saturday afternoon against the Chargers. The Dolphins have not lost two games in a row this season, and Coach Grimes veteran-laden group made sure that did not change in Connecticut.

"She really stepped up for us. I think she kinda found her game (against SCSU) even though we lost, she just got some confidence last time out, and I'm really proud of the production she had today," said Coach Grimes of Zimmerman following the win.

"New Haven, give them credit, they're really physical… We got some really tough kids with a lot of heart, and even though they got knocked down, they got back up," Coach Grimes added.

Zimmerman was looking for her shot early on, draining a three-point field goal in the opening minute to give the 'Phins a lead that they would not relinquish for the rest the contest.

Zimmerman finished the game with a season-high 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal in over 37 minutes of action.

The 6'2" senior forward does so many positive things for Le Moyne on a nightly basis, on both sides of the floor, but a lot of the contributions that she makes towards the team's success does not always show up in the box score. On Saturday in New Haven, Zimmerman's season-high scoring output showed just how dangerous the 'Phins can be. Along with Brinker, Fourace, Abdul-Aziz, and Baker, Zimmerman is capable of pouring in 20+ points on any given night.

Senior guard Erin Fouracre (Loudonville, N.Y./Colonie Central) also heard Coach Grimes' message loud and clear, contributing a double-double of 19 points and a career-high 10 assists, along with six rebounds and two steals in over 37 minutes of action. Fouracre drew a game-high nine fouls during the contest and shot 10-12 from the free-throw line. Both her 10 made free-throws and her 12 attempted free-throws are also career-highs.

Redshirt-junior Saeeda Abdul-Aziz (Schenectady, N.Y./Mohonasen/Davidson) was fantastic for Le Moyne during the conference victory. The 5'10 guard found her shot early on, which opened up the rest of her game. Abdul-Aziz looked comfortable off the dribble, putting the ball on the deck and moving the defense, as well as sealing her defender in the post for high-low opportunities. Abdul-Aziz finished the contest with a game-high 21 points, including four three-point field goals, five defensive rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Lexi Gruss's (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) defensive contributions cannot be overstated. Once again, the 5'6" junior guard was an absolute menace on the defensive end within the Dolphins' 3-2 zone. Gruss only came away with one steal during Saturday's conference victory, but that does not include the numerous deflections she made and the number of times her defensive pressure led to a Chargers turnover or missed shot. On the offensive end, Gruss is always a threat to shoot it, she moves the ball, and plays well within the flow of Le Moyne's offense.

After Zimmerman's three to open the game's scoring, Abdul-Aziz drilled her first three-point field goal attempt of the afternoon at the 8:15 mark of the first quarter to put Le Moyne up 6-0. Abdul-Aziz's first triple came out of her hands smooth, with a perfect arc, and went right through the net without touching the rim, which in hindsight was a good omen at the beginning of what would end up being a season-high tying scoring performance for the redshirt-junior from Schenectady, New York.

With 4:30 left in the first quarter, Fouracre drove to the basket as the shot clock was winding down and kicked it out to Zimmerman in the corner. Zimmerman sank the 15-footer to put Le Moyne up 12-1, forcing a New Haven timeout.

Abdul-Aziz knocked down a second chance three-point field goal at the 2:58 mark, and then Fouracre drilled a shot from behind the arc to give Le Moyne a 18-5 advantage, which forced another Chargers timeout.

The Dolphins led 19-5 after the first ten minutes.

Chargers senior guard Camryn DeBose made a strong move to the basket at the start of the second period to make it 19-7.

At the 7:16 mark of the second quarter, Gruss set a great back screen for Zimmerman at the top of the key. Fouracre lobbed the ball from the left wing towards the right side of the backboard into the path of Zimmerman's cut. Zimmerman mishandled the pass, but regained possession and drained a fall away jumper from inside 10 feet to give the 'Phins a 21-7 advantage.

Fouracre delivered another great pass inside for Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) who finished the layup at the 6:00 minute mark.

One minute and a half later, Zimmerman threw a great entry pass from the top of the key to Roberts who had her defender sealed in the post. Roberts turned, absorbed contact from the defender, finished the layup, drew a foul and sank the additional free-throw to put Le Moyne up 26-9.

The Chargers fouled Abdul-Aziz during a three-point attempt as the second quarter clock expired. SAA sank all three free-throws to give Le Moyne a 33-17 lead going into the halftime break.

Abdul-Aziz made a nice euro step move on a fast break and finished the layup towards the beginning of the third quarter. Abdul-Aziz dribbled into the teeth of the defense and knocked down a midrange pull up at the 6:05 mark to put Le Moyne up 40-21. On the next Le Moyne possession Abdul-Aziz came off a screen, popped to the top of the key, caught a pass and let another triple fly high in the air and smooth through the net to make it 43-21. Abdul-Aziz finished the quarter by dropping a dime to Fourace cutting down the lane off a baseline out of bounds play.

Zimmerman scored to start the fourth quarter, finished a layup at the 7:30 mark, then knocked down a three-point field goal with 5:35 remaining as the Dolphins coasted to the finish line.

Credit to the Chargers, at no point did they throw in the towel, and their high energy and enthusiasm persisted even as the game appeared out of reach.

Zimmerman scored nine of her 19 points during the fourth quarter.

The Dolphins improved to 13-4 overall, and 11-3 against conference competition following the win.

The Le Moyne College women's basketball team will be back in action on Tuesday, February 8 in Garden City, N.Y. when they take on Adelphi University at 5:30 p.m. EST.