Albany, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team (15-5, 10-4 NE10) earned their fifth consecutive victory, and their 10^th conference win of the season on Saturday afternoon, a 63-58 NE10 road triumph against The College of Saint Rose Golden Knights (9-9, 6-7 NE10).

It was the second matchup of the season between the sides, as the Dolphins previously claimed a 75-70 win at home over the Golden Knights on November 19 in their conference opener.

The Dolphins have now won 10 of their last 11 games, with two five-game winning streaks sandwiching a four-point loss to Pace on January 7.

Freshman guard Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney), who is the NE10 leader in steals so far this season, scored a team-high 15 points – on 5-9 shooting from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line – against the Golden Knights on Saturday to go along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 29 minutes played.

Freshman guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) played a season-high 34 minutes during the win, finishing the NE10 battle with 14 points – on 5-10 from the field, including 4-9 from beyond the three-point line – four rebounds and two steals.

Redshirt-freshman guard Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and a season-high 10 rebounds on Saturday. Lusher also contributed four assists, two blocks and two steals in 37 minutes played.

The Dolphins collected 10 steals as a team against Saint Rose, which is the 10^th game this season that they have recorded at least 10 takeaways. Le Moyne is 8-2 during those 10 games.

Redshirt-sophomore forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) recorded a career-high three blocks during the conference win to go along with nine points, five rebounds and a steal.

Senior guard Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) tallied 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal in 36 minutes played against the Golden Knights.

Sophomore guard Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) and senior guard Lexi Gruss (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) both recorded a steal off the bench. Florvil grabbed two offensive rebounds during the win and went 3-4 from the line, while Gruss contributed two offensive rebounds, one defensive rebound and three assists.
The Golden Knights recorded 23 offensive rebounds against the Dolphins, 10 of which came during the first quarter. Despite the second-chance opportunities, Saint Rose trailed Le Moyne 18-11 after 10 minutes.

Le Moyne made four of their game total seven three-point field goals during the second frame (three from Linnin, one from Lusher) to take a 38-26 lead at halftime.
Saint Rose began the second half on a 14-0 run. They shot 9-11 from the field during the third period, outscoring Le Moyne 23-10 during the quarter to take a 49-48 lead going into the final frame.

Le Moyne held Saint Rose to just nine points during the fourth quarter and came away with a 63-58 victory. The Golden Knights shot 3-19 from the field, and 0-6 from beyond the arc, during the final 10 minutes of play.

Le Moyne has now held their opponent to under 60 points in nine of their last 10 games.

Freshman guard Kaelah Carter led Saint Rose in scoring with 15 points on five made field goals, including four three pointers. Senior forward Makaela Johnson recorded 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Golden Knights, while junior guard Isabel Sanchez contributed 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and a game-high four steals.

For the 11^th consecutive game, Le Moyne's opponent shot less than 10 free throws, as the Golden Knights went 6-9 from the line on Saturday. And for the 10^th consecutive game, Le Moyne shot at least 10 free throws, going 14-19 from the line against Saint Rose.

The Le Moyne College women's basketball team will be back in action on Wednesday, February 1, when they host the Adelphi University Panthers on Ted Grant Court for a Northeast-10 battle at 5:30 p.m.

Quotes from point guard Sydney Lusher:
"(Saint Rose is) a tough team, we knew at halftime that they were going to come out and punch us [in the second half]. We had to stick with it and stick with it on defense; our defense is tough to beat."

"Everybody I talk to loves watching Emily [Florvil] play, she's just amazing. She gets in there, she is not afraid of anything."

On her willingness to play on the interior: "I just wanna win, I'll play anywhere. I wanna be on the court."

"We're starting to figure it out. We're working as a team, just playing hard and getting stops on defense."

Quotes from Le Moyne Head Coach Mary Grimes:
"(Saint Rose was) getting shots in the corner, getting threes wherever they wanted [during the third quarter] so we shifted our zone to a 2-3. Because they were killing us inside, they were killing us outside, so we switched our defense up. But a lot of credit to (Saint Rose), they play us hard. As soon as they see green they're ready to go, so we always have to bring our best when we play Saint Rose."

"We've been focusing a lot on our defense. We just locked in today, and once you get to conference season, everybody knows everybody, so we know what other teams do, we're trying to make sure we're locking in on defense and boxing out to get those boards."

"We have so many weapons, whether it's offense or defense. One thing that's not showing up (in the box score) is the heart of our kids. That third quarter was brutal, it was brutal. (Saint Rose) threw their best punch at us and we just stayed the course, which I think we learned earlier on this season, not to panic. We've had a lot of dogfights and I'm just proud of our team because that heart that we have doesn't show up on the stat sheet."
 
Game Action:
The Dolphins scored the first seven points of the contest, then Saint Rose went on a 7-0 run of their own to tie the game with 5:08 left in the opening quarter.

Gruss scrambled to grab an offensive rebound just outside the paint with 4:04 left in the first. Gruss regained possession and passed the ball to Roberts, who stood a few feet behind the free-throw line. Roberts immediately let the shot fly and scored the jumper to tie the game at 9-9.

With 3:25 left in the first quarter, Le Moyne had used all but six seconds of the shot clock as Linnin caught the ball on the left wing. The first-year guard, who is in the top five in the NE10 in made threes per game, faked a shot, drove to her right, got all the way to the basket and finished a left-handed layup off the glass to put the Dolphins up 11-9.

Early in the second quarter, Linnin made a transition three from the left side off a pass from Lusher to make it a 10-point game, but Carter responded with a three pointer for Saint Rose at the 8:13 mark to cut her team's deficit to 21-14.

Baker knocked down a jump shot from the short corner on the right side of the floor to make it 23-14 in favor of the Dolphins, then Linnin made another three at the 6:46 mark to give Le Moyne a 12-point lead.
Johnson converted a floater in the lane with 4:54 left in the half, then Isabel Sanchez made a jump shot from the right side of the floor to cut Le Moyne's lead to 27-21.

Baker came up with an offensive rebound during the next Le Moyne possession, and the ball found Goode near the left corner. Goode drove towards the baseline, finished a floater at the edge of the paint, was fouled on the shot, and converted the additional free throw to put the Dolphins up 30-21.

Catherine Finnerty hit a three for the Golden Knights, then Le Moyne scored a quick eight points during the final 1:30 of the second quarter.

With 1:26 left in the half, Baker was posting up above the left block, and Roberts threw her an overhead pass. Baker caught the ball and drove towards the middle of the floor, where Lusher's defender stepped in to help. Baker felt the double team and fired a one-handed pass out to Lusher in the right corner. Lusher took a step behind the three-point line as she caught the high-velocity pass, then swished the shot to put the Dolphins up 33-24.

Le Moyne's zone defense held strong during the next possession, and Saint Rose took a three. The ball bounced high off the back iron. Baker went after it and grabbed the contested rebound. The senior guard pushed the ball up the right side of the court, crossed the opposite three-point line, then weaved towards the middle of the floor. Baker kicked the ball out to Lusher on the left wing, and a Saint Rose defender rushed towards the redshirt-freshman guard to prevent back-to-back Lusher threes. Lusher quickly made the extra pass to Linnin in the left corner, and Linnin made the triple to put Le Moyne up by 12.

Lusher made two free throws with 28 seconds left in the quarter to give Le Moyne a 38-26 lead going into the halftime break.
 
The Golden Knights went on a 14-0 run to begin the second half, capped off at the 5:31 mark when Johnson drove from the left wing and finished a scoop layup off the right side of the backboard to give Saint Rose a 40-38 lead.

Roberts hit a jump shot from the right side of the floor to stop the run and tie the game at 40-40.

Saint Rose then went on a 7-2 run to take a five-point lead.

Lusher grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on her putback attempt with 1:26 left in the third. She made one of two free throws to trim the deficit to 47-43.

With 1:15 left in the third quarter, Linnin deflected a Saint Rose pass and Gruss grabbed the loose ball for Le Moyne. The Dolphins moved the ball around at the other end for 23 seconds until Goode drove from the top of the key towards the left block and drew help from Lusher's defender. Goode kicked the ball out to Lusher on the left wing, where the redshirt-freshman guard from Oneida swished the three pointer to make it 47-46 in favor of the Golden Knights.

Saint Rose came down to the other end and scored quickly, then Baker was fouled on a drive during the last possession of the quarter, and she made two free throws to cut Le Moyne's deficit to 49-48 going into the final quarter.

With 7:20 left in the fourth, Roberts caught the ball at the high post and threw a pass over the defense for Baker, who finished her layup on the right side of the backboard to make it 54-53 in favor of the Golden Knights.

Baker was fouled in the paint with 6:17 left in the fourth, setting up a baseline of bounds play for the Dolphins.

Lusher was the inbounder, and Gruss ran from the left block to the free-throw line to set a screen for Roberts. Gruss' screen freed Roberts, who dashed towards the left block, received a pass from Lusher and made the layup to give Le Moyne a 55-54 lead.

Sanchez scored to give Saint Rose the lead back, then with just under four minutes left in the quarter, Lusher grabbed a defensive rebound and passed it to Baker, who pushed the ball up the floor. Just as she approached the three-point line, Baker sent a pass to Linnin in the left corner. Linnin swished her three pointer to give the Dolphins a 58-56 advantage.

Two free throws from Saint Rose guard Ryley Blasetti tied the game at 58-58.

During the next Le Moyne possession, Saint Rose defended well for 25 seconds, and even poked the ball away from a Le Moyne dribbler for a moment before Goode jumped in to recover the ball, then drove to the right block and finished a layup to give the Dolphins a two-point lead with 53 seconds left.

The Dolphins defended with intensity during the final minute, as Baker blocked a jump shot out of bounds with 26 seconds on the clock.

Le Moyne got a stop to regain possession, then Roberts made a free throw at the other end to extend Le Moyne's lead to 61-58.

Saint Rose called timeout after the made free throw, which allowed them to inbound the ball in the frontcourt. Gruss and Linnin pressured the ball at the top of Le Moyne's zone, and Sanchez took a three from the right wing. Her shot missed long and the ball bounced high off the rim towards the right side of the floor. A Saint Rose player grabbed the offensive rebound but was swarmed by Le Moyne defenders. She tried to throw a pass from the right corner to the top of the key, but Lusher jumped into the passing lane, controlled the ball with her right hand and raced towards the opposite hoop.

Lusher ran towards the left block, made a left-handed layup and was fouled on the shot to give Le Moyne a 63-58 lead with two seconds left on the clock.