Game #14 vs. FDU (NEC)
Info: Saturday, Jan. 6 | Syracuse, N.Y. | 2:00 PM | Ted Grant Court
Watch: NEC Front Row ... Live stats: lemoynedolphins.com
Listen: wvoaradio.com
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FDU Links: Schedule | Roster | News | Stats

Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team will play its first Northeast Conference game on Saturday against FDU at 2:00 p.m. at home on Ted Grant Court.

The game will be streamed on NEC Front Row.

The Dolphins, who went 16-4 during their final season of Northeast-10 Conference play in 2022-23, are coming off a 66-55 loss at home against Princeton (10-3), which has spent time in the AP National Top 25 Poll this season.

Sophomore guards Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) both scored in double figures on Sunday against the Tigers.

Goode tallied 13 points on 4-9 shooting from the field, 2-3 from long range and 3-3 from the line with six assists and a steal, while Linnin shot 4-6 from three-point range and recorded a career-best four steals.

Graduate guard Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) registered a career-best five steals for the second consecutive game to go along with seven points, three assists and three rebounds, while fifth-year guard Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) provided eight points and a team-best seven rebounds during the setback.

Baker, who tallied her NEC-leading fifth double-double of the season on December 28 against Pittsburgh with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, was named the Northeast Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season on January 2. Baker was also named an NEC Prime Performer, a distinction she has earned on five different occasions already in 2023-24.

Baker currently leads all Northeast Conference players in rebounding average (8.2), while being seventh in scoring (11.6), seventh in steals (1.8) and fourth in blocks (0.92).

With 635 career boards Baker is up to eighth all-time on the Le Moyne women's basketball career rebounding list.

Le Moyne, which boasted a defense that ranked among the best in the nation last year at the Division II level, has forced at least 20 turnovers in each of the last two games.

The Dolphins forced a season-best 21 turnovers on Thursday at Pittsburgh with a then-season-high 13 steals, and on Sunday they caused 20 turnovers against Princeton with a season-best 14 steals.

Le Moyne shot a season-best 47% from the field on Sunday, including a season-high 54% from three-point range, trying their season-high total of seven made threes against the Tigers.

As a team, the Dolphins currently rank first in the NEC in free-throw percentage (0.75), second in steals, third in blocked shots, and third in turnover margin.

The FDU Knights are led by first-year head coach Stephanie Gaitley, who previously served as the head coach for the Fordham women's basketball program from 2011-2022.

FDU compiled a 14-2 conference record in 2022-23 and claimed its seconds consecutive regular season conference championship under previous head coach Angelika Szumilo, who also claimed the league's Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year Award in consecutive seasons.

FDU senior forward Teneisia Brown leads the Knights in scoring and rebounding so far this season with 10.3 points and 6.0 boards per game.

Brown is currently tied for second among NEC players in double-doubles behind Baker. She tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds against Mount St. Mary's, then she recorded a season-high 17 points and a season-best 11 rebounds against NJIT. Brown is second in the conference in offensive rebounding average with 2.54 per game, and she is third in field goal percentage.

Senior guard Abby Conklin is averaging a team-high 3.3 assists and a team-best 1.2 steals per game to go along with 9.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in a team-high 36.5 minutes, while sophomore forward Lilly Parke is contributing 7.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest.

Conklin currently leads all Northeast Conference players in three-point field goal percentage, having converted 32 of her 86 (37%) long range attempts so far this season. As a team, the Knights are shooting 30% from three-point range, which is the best mark among NEC teams. Conklin is also second in the conference in assist to turnover ratio.

The Knights suffered a 71-59 loss at home to UNLV on December 21, then they fell at Vanderbilt on the 29^th.

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