Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team recorded a 65-52 win over the visiting FDU Knights on Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Court in its conference opener, securing the program's first-ever Northeast Conference victory.

Le Moyne held a seven-point lead at halftime, and a 10-point lead after the third quarter, then the Knights cut their deficit to four with 7:03 remaining in the fourth, but the Dolphins scored 15 of the game's final 21 points to close out their first home win of the campaign.

Quotes from Le Moyne head coach Mary Grimes, sophomore guard Sierra Linnin and senior forward Haedyn Roberts:

      


Reading the box score:
Redshirt-junior forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) scored a game-high and personal season-high 17 points on 50% shooting from the field and 2-3 from three-point range with a team-best eight rebounds in 26 minutes played. With the help of Roberts' 17 Le Moyne scored a season-high 25 bench points.

Sophomore guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) shot 4-7 from the field, including 3-6 from three-point range on Saturday for the 'Phins, finishing the contest with 11 points, two assists and two steals. Linnin has shot a combined 7-12 from long range during Le Moyne's last two home games. The Dolphins made a season-best eight three pointers against FDU and have now shot above 44% from long range in each of their last two contests.

Fifth-year guard Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) was the third Le Moyne player to score in double figures during the conference opener, tallying 12 points, seven rebounds and a season-best five assists in a team-high 37 minutes played.

Le Moyne graduate guard Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) also registered a season-high five assists during the win to go along with seven points and three rebounds, while sophomore guard Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) distributed four assists with four points and a season-high five rebounds. As a team, the Dolphins shattered their previous season-high in assists, tallying 22 assists on 25 made field goals against the Knights.

Junior forward Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) contributed six points and four rebounds to the Le Moyne cause, including a team-high four offensive rebounds, while junior guard Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) added five rebounds, four points, three assists and three steals.

FDU senior guard Abby Conklin scored a game-high 18 points with seven rebounds and four made threes, while senior forward Teneisia Brown also scored in double figures with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior guard Abaigeal Babore added nine points, four rebounds for the Knights, and sophomore forward Lilly Parke pulled down nine rebounds.

Le Moyne limited the Knights to just seven free throws, and the visitors converted two of those attempts. The Dolphins meanwhile shot 7-13 from the line.

Le Moyne shot 3-4 from three-point range during the fourth quarter, while the Knights went 2-8 from deep in the final 10 minutes.

FDU capitalized on their 23 offensive rebounds with 13 second chance points. The Dolphins were able to score 21 points off of FDU's 18 turnovers.

Key moments:
After a Babore jumper with 7:16 left in the third quarter made it a six-point game, Roberts went on a personal 7-0 run with two layups in the paint and a three pointer from the left wing to extend Le Moyne's lead to 45-32 and force an FDU timeout.

Two consecutive Conklin three pointers during the first three minutes of fourth quarter trimmed Le Moyne's advantage to six points.

During the next Le Moyne possession, Lusher sent a pass to Linnin in the left corner, and Le Moyne's lefty sharpshooter buried the triple to give the Dolphins a 53-46 advantage. After Le Moyne got a stop on defense, Linnin drained a deep three pointer at the 5:53 mark to put the Dolphins up by 10.

During the next Le Moyne possession, Goode received a pass from Baker on the left wing and converted Le Moyne's third consecutive three pointer to extend the lead to 59-46.

10 seconds later, Florvil grabbed a defensive rebound, pushed the ball up the left side of the floor and threw a pass ahead to Linnin for a fast break layup to complete Le Moyne's 11-0 run and establish a 15-point advantage with under five minutes remaining.

Game Highlights:


The Le Moyne women's basketball team will return to action next Saturday when they travel to North Andover Massachusetts to take on the Merrimack College Warriors.