Kingston, R.I. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team dropped a non-conference game at Rhode Island on Thursday in front of nearly 7,000 spectators inside URI's Ryan Center. With URI's Education Day promotion, more than 5,600 elementary school students from over 42 schools around the state attended the game.

The Rams, who were picked to finish first in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, held a 40-23 at halftime and eventually claimed a 97-53 victory over the Dolphins.

Le Moyne fifth-year guard Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) scored in double figures for the ninth time this season, tallying a team-high 15 points on 6-11 shooting with six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Graduate guard Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) also scored in figures for the third consecutive game, contributing 10 points with two of Le Moyne's three three-point field goals.

Junior forward Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) tied her career-high with eight points and also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds which tied her season-high.

Sophomore guard Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) also scored eight points for the 'Phins, while freshman guard Leah Middleton (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) provided a season-best three assists along with two field goals. Freshman forward Sydney Postell (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) also recorded a season-high in assists with two helpers against the Rams.

Quotes from Le Moyne head coach Mary Grimes:
"A lot of credit to Rhode Island, they created a great environment that we hadn't been used to. It was tough to hear, it was tough to communicate to my team and it was tough for them to communicate on the floor. Kudos to them, I think this was kind of a culmination of our non-conference. We've (played a string of tough opponents) and we just ran out of gas today. We have a break coming up for the holiday and I think it's going to be a good break for us to just reset."

On Brianna Williams' performance: "Bri's been in this arena before and I think she played like she had been here before. Really good to see from her, her emerging into who she can become. So, very excited about her future."

On playing a younger lineup in the fourth quarter: "It was a great opportunity for those players that don't necessarily get the opportunity to play (regularly) to come in and kind of just show me what they got. The last quarter, the last media timeout I just talked about playing with heart and I think everybody who went in there definitely played with heart."

"I think we were just a little bit tentative (against their press). We kind of got it across half court and they stayed relentless and we were trying to catch our breath, but we needed to continue to go… we have the pieces to break a press like that. It's similar to our press, to be honest. So, we had a couple possessions of success in the first half."

URI junior guard Sophie Phillips shot 7-18 from three-point range for a game-high 21 points, while graduate guards Dee Dee Davis and Teisha Hyman recorded 19 points each for the Rams, who improved their home record to 4-1 with the win.

Sophomore forward Anaelle Dutat grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for the Rams, while sophomore guard Ines Debroise distributed a game-high seven assists.

The Rams made a season-high 15 three-point field goals on a season-high 35 attempts while the Dolphins shot 3-16 from long range.

URI capitalized on 21 Le Moyne turnovers with 28 points off turnovers and 29 fast break points.

The two teams combined for just 15 points in the first 8:30 of the first quarter.

With just over two minutes remaining in the opening period, Williams grabbed an offensive rebound for the 'Phins and sent a pass out to Lusher, who gave her defender a pump fake then drove into the lane and converted a floater to make it 9-6 in favor of the home team.

Williams knocked down a midrange jumper at the 1:24 mark of the first to make it a one-point game, but the Rams closed the quarter on a 7-0 run with two baskets from Hyman and a triple from Phillips to establish a 16-8 advantage after 10 minutes of play.

Following a layup from Davis with 3:44 left in the second quarter, Goode drained a three pointer from the corner for Le Moyne off an assist from Middleton, then Baker recorded a steal on defense, drove all the way to the other hoop and finished a contested running layup on the right side to cut the deficit to 25-19.

The Rams responded with a quick 8-0 spurt before the run was broken up by a Middleton pull up jumper at the two-minute mark.

A corner three from Phillips in the closing seconds of the first half gave the Rams a 40-23 lead at the intermission.

Baker scored two consecutive baskets for Le Moyne midway through the third period, then the Rams responded with back-to-back threes from Davis and Phillips followed by a layup from Davis to extend their lead to 58-31.

With just under three minutes remaining in the third, Baker grabbed a contested defensive rebound, pushed the ball up the right side of the court, drove all the way to the right block then converted an acrobatic scoop layup through contact, drew a foul and completed the old-fashioned three-point play.

In the closing seconds of the third period, Lusher stole a pass at the top of the key and finished a layup at the other end to make it 66-36 in favor of the home team.

Rhode Island outscored the Dolphins by a tally of 31-17 in the final period to close out the win.

The Le Moyne women's basketball team will play its final non-conference road game on December 28 at the University of Pittsburgh, then the Dolphins will host Princeton University at Ted Grant Court on December 31 before beginning Northeast Conference play on January 6 at home against FDU.