Fairfield, Conn. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team bested the defending NEC Tournament Champions Sacred Heart on Monday at SHU's William H. Pitt Center by a score of 60-56 to improve their conference record to 3-0.

Sacred Heart, which had won each of its first three NEC contests this season, drops to 9-9 overall and 3-1 in NEC play.

Following Central Connecticut State's loss to Merrimack on Monday, Le Moyne is now the only NEC women's basketball team still unbeaten in conference play.

Le Moyne and Sacred Heart were tied 42-42 after three quarters, then the 'Phins outscored the Pioneers by a tally of 18-14 in the final 10 minutes of action.

Four Le Moyne players scored in double figures on Monday, led by sophomore guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) who provided a game-high 14 points with the help of three first-half three pointers. Linnin logged a season-high 38 minutes during the win.

Sophomore guard Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) also played 38 minutes while contributing 13 points on 50% shooting from the field and four rebounds.

Junior forward Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) registered her first career double-double against the Pios. Williams scored a career-best 12 points for the second consecutive game and she pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds in a season-high 33 minutes played.

Fifth-year guard Lyoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) also scored in double figures with 10 points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. Baker scored eight of her points during the second half, including six in the fourth quarter.

Redshirt-junior forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) added seven points and five rebounds, shooting 5-6 from the line to improve her free-throw percentage to 87%, while junior guard Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) registered three steals, three rebounds and two free-throws in 25 minutes played off the bench.

Graduate guard Sajada Bonner led Sacred Heart in scoring with 13 points, while reigning NEC Player of the Year Ny'Ceara Pryor tallied 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in 39 minutes played.

First-year center Emma Kirby had a productive afternoon off the bench for the Pios, recording 12 points (on 6-8 from the field), five rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 26 minutes played, while fellow reserve Olivia Tucker dished a game-high five assists to go along with seven points in 35 minutes of action.

The Dolphins took 25 free throws during the afternoon, tying their season-high. They also capitalized on 15 offensive rebounds with 12 second-chance points.

Le Moyne also forced Sacred Heart into 18 turnovers, and scored 17 points off of those turnovers.

Quotes from Le Moyne head coach Mary Grimes:
"We've been practicing really, really well and I think it's showing. Sacred Heart is an unbelievably tough team. They score inside, they score outside, they shoot the three and they've got the returning player of the year, rookie of the year, defensive player of the year (in Ny'Ceara Pryor) so it's a well-rounded team, but I think my team executed very well down the stretch. Our break was really good for us, we honed in on some things that we were getting just a little bit better in the non-conference, just a little bit better. But I think we made a big jump over break. They're going to get back to class tomorrow. So, you know just an unbelievable team effort we had today."

"… I don't ever want them to play with any fear. I want them to be confident in themselves… I think the sky is the limit for us. We're still maturing as a group off the court… I think they'll go as far as they want to go. But it was a great effort today, we're just going to continue to take it one game at a time."

On the balance of the team: "We're not playing tennis. It's a team game, and they're all learning to trust each other. Kaia is being an unbelievable leader out there for us. I don't think everything that she does shows up in the stat sheet. She's just controlling our team on offense and defense."

How it Happened:
Le Moyne got off to a hot start on Monday with the help of Sierra Linnin, who scored nine first-quarter points.

Linnin knocked down her first three pointer of the afternoon with 5:45 left on the first quarter clock when Baker drove into the paint and kicked out a pass to her near the top of the key. Linnin's attempt went uncontested and hit nothing but net.

With just under four minutes left in the opening quarter, Linnin used a screen from Roberts on the left wing, drove towards the middle of the floor and hit a stepback jumper over a Sacred Heart forward to give the 'Phins a 12-4 lead.

Less than a minute, Florvil broke Sacred Heart's full-court pressure with a pass up the left sideline to Linnin. With no hesitation Linnin let the three pointer fly and once again hit nothing but net to give the 'Phins an 11-point advantage and force an SHU timeout.

Bonner scored the final field goal of the first quarter for Sacred Heart with a putback layup just before the buzzer, making it 17-10 in favor of the Dolphins after 10 minutes of action.

Linnin picked up right where she left off in the second quarter, rattling home a midrange stepback jumper less than 20 second into the period after dribbling from right to left.

Less than a minute later, Linnin drew the attention of two defenders with another stepback move, but this time she sent a pass to a rolling Williams who finished a contested layup from the left block.

The Pioneers then went on a 9-0 run with the help of a fast break layup from Pryor and a three-point play from Bonner to trim their deficit to 21-19.

With just over five minutes left in the second quarter, Le Moyne freshman guard Leah Middleton (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) faced up her defender at the top of the key, crossed over twice and made a running layup at the left block to put the 'Phins up by five.

At the 2:27 mark, Williams caught the ball at the top of the key and threw a pass over the defense to Roberts who sealed her defender, made a contested catch of the ball and finished a right-handed layup.

During the next Le Moyne possession, Linnin caught a pass in the left corner from Goode and knocked down her third three pointer of the first half to extend Le Moyne's lead back to double digits.

Sacred Heart closed the first half on an 8-2 run. Bonner made two free throws with 1:36 remaining, Pryor drew a foul and made two more free throws during their next possession, then she assisted Olivia Tucker on a fastbreak layup, and then found Emma Kirby with four seconds left to score the final field goal of the half and make it a four-point game after 20 minutes.

With just under seven minutes left in the third quarter, Baker caught a pass near the left block and made a move around her defender for a layup, then Pryor answered right back at the other end with a pullup jumper from just outside the paint to make it 38-35 in favor of the Dolphins.

A three pointer from Tucker at the 3:09 mark in the third tied the game at 40-40.

Goode scored Le Moyne's final field goal of the third period with a pullup jumper from the right elbow with 31 seconds on the clock, then Amelia Wood converted a layup at the other end just before the buzzer to tie the game at 42-42 going into the final period.

With 6:25 left in the fourth quarter, Baker drove to the basket and converted a right-handed scoop layup, but Sacred Heart responded at the other end with a three pointer from Bonner to take their first lead of the game at 49-48 lead.

With 4:27 left, Kirby made a nice post move and scored a layup to give the Pios a three-point advantage.

Williams came up big for the 'Phins at the other end, grabbing an offensive rebound, converting the putback, drawing a foul, and sinking the additional free throw to tie the game at 51-51.

Florvil and Goode combined to put the Dolphins back in front during the very next possession. Florvil stole the ball on the perimeter, drove all the way to the left block, then turned around and sent a pass to a trailing Goode who swished the midrange jumper.

A Sacred Heart free throw with 2:32 left on the clock made it a one-point game, but Baker drew a foul during the next possession and made both free throws to put the 'Phins back up by three.

Pryor scored a fast break jumper in the paint with 33 seconds left in the contest. Florvil was fouled during the next possession and made a free throw to make it 56-54.

Williams affected a Pryor layup with 11 seconds remaining and grabbed the defensive rebound.

Roberts and Goode both made two free throws in the final 10 seconds to ice the game.


Up Next:
The Le Moyne women's basketball team will host Central Connecticut State University on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on the YES Network as well as NEC Front Row.