Game #21 vs. Wagner (NEC)
Info: Thursday, Feb 1 | Syracuse, N.Y. | 7 p.m. | Ted Grant Court
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Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team will look to improve to 4-0 at home in Northeast Conference play on Thursday when they host Wagner College for a 7:00 p.m. matchup at Ted Grant Court.

The Dolphins went 6-1 in the month of January, marking the third consecutive season under head coach Mary Grimes that the Dolphins have won at least six games in January.

Le Moyne (8-12, 6-1 NEC) is coming off a conference win at LIU on Saturday, and prior to that they completed a regular season sweep of Merrimack College with a 64-57 victory over the Warriors at Ted Grant Court on January 25.

Le Moyne scored a season-best 80 points on 51.7% shooting with a season-high 24 assists against the LIU Sharks. The Dolphins also tied their season high of 34 points in the paint and shot 25-40 (62.5%) on two-point field goals.

Fifth-year guard Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) was named an NEC Prime Performer following Le Moyne's 2-0 week.

Baker recorded 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals during the win over Merrimack, then she posted her NEC-leading seventh double-double of the season against LIU with 25 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and zero turnovers.

Baker's 3.0 assist to turnover ratio during conference play is the best among all NEC players. On the year, Baker leads the league in rebounding average (8.1) while being fourth in scoring (12.9), third in blocks (0.95), sixth in steals (1.7) and 13^th in assists (2.35).

Baker is up to 690 career rebounds as a Dolphin, which puts her seventh on the program's all-time rebounding list.

Sophomore guard Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney), who produced season highs in points (19) and steals (5) during the win over Merrimack, is fourth in the NEC in assist to turnover during conference play at 1.47 while being third in assists (3.6), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.364) and seventh in steals (1.6).

After recording 15 points and a career-best seven rebounds with two assists, a block and a steal against Merrimack, Le Moyne sophomore guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) followed that up with a season-best 17 points against the Sharks. Linnin's third three pointer on Saturday gave her 100 made triples as a Dolphin.

Linnin is tied for third among NEC players with 18 made threes during conference play. She is also shooting a team-best 88% from the free-throw line this season.

Graduate guard Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) added 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block at LIU. On the year, Lusher is sixth among NEC players in three-point field goal percentage and seventh in overall field goal percentage.

During their three conference home wins, the Dolphins have allowed just 51 points per game.

As a team through seven conference games, Le Moyne leads the NEC in three-point field goal percentage (.368), assists (100) and assist to turnover ratio (1.11), while being second in scoring (70.7), points allowed (55.0), scoring margin (+9.6), field goal percentage (.411), field goal percentage allowed (.368), blocked shots (28), and turnover margin (+4.86).

The Wagner Seahawks (5-13, 2-4 NEC), led by third-year head coach Terrell Coburn, are coming off a three-game home stand during which they suffered losses to Merrimack (45-72) and Sacred Heart (63-83) before claiming a 49-45 win over Central Connecticut State on Saturday.

Junior forward Semie Brar and graduate guard Taleah Washington are both averaging over 9.0 points per game for the Seahawks. Brar is averaging 9.8 points with 2.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game, while Washington is providing 9.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, a team-best 3.4 assists (3^rd in NEC) and 1.5 steals.

Wagner freshman forward Kiera Edmonds, who is averaging 7.1 points and a team-high 6.2 assists so far in her first collegiate campaign, was named NEC Rookie of the Week for the first time after recording her first career double-double during the win over CCSU with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Junior guard Rakisha Ballinger is second among NEC players in steals with 2.5 per game so far this season to go along with 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

During the win over CCSU, Edmonds, Ballinger and sophomore guard Angélie Ricard combined to score 38 of the team's 49 points on 53% shooting from the field.

During conference play, the Seahawks are second among NEC teams in steals with 9.0 per game, just ahead of the Dolphins, but Wagner is eighth in turnover margin, and ninth in assist to turnover ratio.

The Seahawks are third in the league in both three-point field goal percentage and field goal percentage during league play. Edmonds has converted a team-high 21 field goals on 40 attempts against NEC opponents, while Washington is 8-14 from long range through four conference appearances.

Thursday will be the first-ever meeting between Le Moyne and Wagner in women's basketball.

Thursday's contest will begin a three-game home stand for the 'Phins. Le Moyne will next host Sacred Heart on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in the second meeting between the two programs this season.

The Dolphins previously bested the preseason-favorite Pioneers by a score of 60-56 on January 15 in Fairfield. Le Moyne and Sacred Heart are tied at the top of the NEC Standings with 6-1 conference records.

Following Saturday's game, Le Moyne will host Stonehill on February 9 in the first meeting between the two sides since the 2021-22 season when they were both members of the Northeast-10 Conference.