Springfield, Mass. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team (19-5, 14-4 NE10) scored a season-high 89 points during a wire-to-wire 40-point conference victory at American International College (14-11, 10-7 NE10) on Saturday afternoon.

It is the ninth consecutive conference victory for the Dolphins, who have put themselves in first place in the Northeast-10 Conference Standings after winning 14 of their last 15 games, including 11 of their last 12 conference battles.

11 of Le Moyne's last 14 wins have been by double digits. Saturday's 89-49 win over AIC marks the fourth time in their last seven games that the Dolphins have held their opponent to under 50 points.

The team's 89 points against AIC is the most Le Moyne has scored in an NE10 game since November 26, 2019 when the Dolphins scored 90 at Saint Rose, and it is the most points Le Moyne has scored on the road since they scored 97 at Bentley on January 7, 2015.

Le Moyne shot 33-59 (55.9%) from the field, including 15-25 (60%) from three-point range on Saturday, which are the highest field goal and three-point field percentages that they have recorded during a game this season.

The Dolphins threw a knockout punch in the first quarter against the Yellow Jackets. Le Moyne outscored AIC 32-8 during the first 10 minutes with the help of eight consecutive three-point field goals. Le Moyne missed their first three-point attempt in the opening minute of the game, then made their next eight and finished the quarter 11-14 from the field and 8-9 from three-point range.

Le Moyne's 32 first-quarter points are the most that they have recorded in single 10-minute period so far this season. The Dolphins previously scored 30 points in the third quarter at Roberts Wesleyan, during a game in which Le Moyne set a program record with 18 made threes.

The Dolphins set another program record on Saturday with 26 assists against the Yellow Jackets. Le Moyne impressively assisted on 26 of their 33 total field goals.

On January 18, during a win at Southern Connecticut, first-year guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) became the first freshman in program history to record six three pointers in a single game. Linnin shot 6-9 from long range that day against the Owls, and on Saturday Linnin tied her own record but on less attempts, going 6-8 from three-point land against the Yellow Jackets to finish with a team-high 18 points. Linnin shot 3-3 from deep during Le Moyne's incredible first quarter.

Six different Le Moyne players scored in double figures on Saturday.

Redshirt-sophomore forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) recorded 17 points on 7-9 shooting from the field and seven rebounds. Roberts also made her first career three-point field goal, going 1-1 from deep during the win.

Redshirt-freshman guard Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) tallied 16 points on 6-10 shooting from the field, including 3-6 from three-point range, a season-high and game-high eight assists, five rebounds, three steals and one block in 33 minutes played, while freshman guard Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) provided 12 points on 5-8 from the field, including 2-3 from long range, four assists and three steals in 32 minutes of action.

Senior guard Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) recorded 12 points, a game-high eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block, and senior guard Lexi Gruss (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) added 11 points off the bench on 4-8 shooting from the field, including 3-6 from three-point land.

Following a two-game absence due to injury, sophomore guard Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) pulled down four offensive rebounds and one defensive rebound in eight minutes off the bench.

American International graduate forward Taylor Tomlinson scored a game-high 20 points for the Yellow Jackets. Tomlinson shot 9-22 from the field and 2-4 from the line to get her 20 points, and she was only AIC player to score in double figures during the setback. Tomlinson also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

The Dolphins will look to extend their winning streak to 10 games on Wednesday, February 15 when they take on Saint Michael's College in Colchester.

Quotes from Le Moyne Head Coach Mary Grimes:
On her team's 26 assists: "I just pretty much got out of their way this game. (Sydney Lusher) saw the floor really, really well today. She had her head up, people were running, and I think they followed the game plan offensively really well."

On the 32-point first quarter: "I told them to just come out strong and they took that to heart. I was talking about defensively, and they did that, but I didn't know they were going to go nuts offensively, so they just embraced the mindset of coming out strong right from the beginning and they did that."

"We were hoping to get some outside shots, and we got those. We do rely on (Lytoya Baker) and (Haedyn Roberts) heavily inside, but it just makes it easier for them when we're hitting outside shots. Super proud of them all, they've been getting in the gym and taking care of their bodies so I think all the hard work that they're doing is paying off."

Quotes from Sydney Lusher:
On being able to run the point and distribute to others: "It's amazing, we have great players, and we all love each other, so we just move the ball and (AIC) didn't know who to guard."

The win over AIC marks the fourth time in 2023 that Le Moyne has beaten a team that they previously lost to earlier in the season (the others being Pace, Adelphi, and Assumption). On Le Moyne having extra motivation going against opponents that they previously lost to: "Oh definitely. But, it was more just playing our game and getting back to us. We get in the gym, we spend time off the court together. We just want to play for each other."

The Dolphins got off to a hot start on Saturday afternoon.

Lusher hit Le Moyne's first three of the game at the 7:13 mark of the first quarter from the left corner, then Roberts knocked home a three during the next possession to give the 'Phins a 10-0 lead.

Following an AIC timeout, Goode drove through the middle and scored a floater to make it 12-0, then Kayla Robinson hit a three pointer at the other end to get the Yellow Jackets on the board.

Le Moyne then went on a 12-0 run via four consecutive threes, and then Gruss hit back-to-back triples to make it 29-8. Linnin made her third three pointer of the quarter with 26 seconds remaining to give the Dolphins a 32-8 lead after the first 10 minutes of action. Le Moyne tallied nine assists on their 11 first quarter field goals.

Tomlinson scored seven of AIC's 14 second-quarter points as the Yellow Jackets faced a 48-22 deficit at halftime.

The Dolphins delivered a strong third quarter as well on Saturday, outscoring American International 25-11 during the penultimate frame.

With 7:00 left in the third quarter, Lusher sent a pass to Roberts near the top of the key, and Roberts hit the deep two pointer to give Le Moyne a 31-point lead. Less than two minutes later, Lusher caught the ball on the left wing, drove towards the left block and finished a contested running layup to put the 'Phins up 60-26.

Roberts grabbed a defensive rebound with 3:50 left in the third and threw an outlet pass to Lusher on the left side of the floor. Lusher pushed the ball in transition and sent a pass across the court to Baker, just as Baker was approaching the three-point line. Baker had a clear lane to the basket, so she drove to the right block, jumped off her right leg and finished a right-handed scoop layup over a help defender to extend Le Moyne's lead to 65-26.

The Yellow Jackets were unable to trim to their deficit to below 36 at any point during the fourth quarter.

With the win, the Dolphins remain just above #18 Assumption University (20-4, 13-4 NE10) and Southern New Hampshire University (17-5, 13-4 NE10) for first place in the Northeast-10 Conference Standings, although the Greyhounds and Penmen have three conference regular season games remaining on their schedule, including against each other next Saturday in Worcester, compared to two for Le Moyne.

The Dolphins will play at Saint Michael's (1-20, 0-17 NE10) on February 15, then they will play their regular season finale at home on Saturday, February 18 against New Haven (15-8, 11-7 NE10).

Due to Bentley's loss to Pace on Saturday, Le Moyne has clinched a bye in the first round of NE10 Championships. The top three teams in the conference standings earn a bye in the first round of the NE10 conference tournament.

The Dolphins are now 9-3 on the road, and 10-2 at home this season. During the 2023 portion of their schedule, Le Moyne is currently 10-1.