Normal, Ill. – The Illinois State University Redbirds registered a 71-55 victory over the Le Moyne College women's basketball team on Sunday at ISU's CEFCU Arena in non-conference action.

In the first-ever meeting between the two programs, the Dolphins and the Redbirds were tied 30-30 at halftime, but ISU outscored Le Moyne 22-15 in the third quarter, then 19-10 in the fourth to pull away for the win in their home opener.

Graduate forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) led Le Moyne in scoring with 13 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists. Roberts totaled her 500^th career rebound in the first quarter, becoming the 23^rd player in Le Moyne women's basketball program history to reach the milestone.

Freshman guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) scored in double figures for the second consecutive game, shooting 4-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-6 from three-point range to finish the contest with 11 points. Clark also totaled season highs in rebounds (6), assists (3) and steals (2) in 32 minutes of action.

Senior forward Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) provided eight points, five rebounds, one steal and one block for the Dolphins, while senior guard Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) recorded four offensive rebounds, three assists and a game-high three steals.

Senior guard Mia Yanogacio (Somerset, N.J./Rutgers Prep/Delaware) chipped in eight points and two rebounds, and sophomore forward Sydney Postell (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) connected on her first two career three-point field goals to finish the contest with six points.

The Dolphins registered a new season-high in points for the second consecutive game with the help of a season-best nine made threes on 25 attempts. Le Moyne also shot a season-best 83.3% (10-12) from the line.

"We're coming along in some aspects, like I thought in the first half we found a good rhythm offensively, we moved it, the ball didn't really stick in our hands," said Le Moyne head coach Nick DiPillo after the game. "I thought even in the second quarter we had some possessions where it really moved. When they started to pound us inside and started to get a bit of a cushion for themselves, we got a little bit too one-on-one, ball dominant, and I think that took us out of our offensive rhythm which in turn took a toll on us defensively," DiPillo added.

Four Redbirds scored in double figures to help ISU improve to 2-1 on the year, led by graduate guard Elyce Knudsen, who recorded a game-high 15 points in her Illinois State debut. Redshirt-junior forward Addison Martin shot 6-for-11 from the field and 2-2 from the line to finish the game with 14 points in addition to five rebounds, sophomore forward

Nevaeh Thomas tallied 10 points, a game-high seven rebounds and five assists, and graduate guard Maya Wong dished out a game-high eight assists for ISU.

The Redbirds shot 13-18 from the free-throw line Sunday, and scored 20 points off of Le Moyne's 18 turnovers.

All nine of Le Moyne's first quarter field goal attempts were from beyond the arc, and the Dolphins connected on five of them to trail ISU 18-15 after the first 10 minutes.

Clark shot 3-3 from three-point range in the first, while graduate guard Megan Bodziony (Wakefield, R.I./St. Andrew's School/Fordham/Bryant) and Postell each added a triple during the opening frame. Clark swished her first three from the right wing to beat the shot clock with 8:18 left in the first, then she swished a three from the left side a little over a minute later. She swished her third and final triple of the first quarter from the right corner at the 5:23 mark to give the Dolphins a 12-10 lead.

Knudsen recorded seven first-quarter points for ISU to help the Redbirds establish a three-point lead after 10 minutes of play.

The Dolphins took a 21-20 lead with 5:52 remaining in the second quarter when Clark drove baseline from the right corner, then threw a pass behind her for Yanogacio, who swished a three from the right side.

The Redbirds then went on a 10-4 run to establish a five-point lead.

Junior guard Michelina Lombardi (Wynantskill, N.Y./Averill Park) grabbed an offensive rebound under the basket with 2:36 left in the second half then finished a reverse layup to score her first field goal of the season and cut Le Moyne's deficit to 30-27.

The Dolphins held the Redbirds scoreless for the remainder of the half, and Yanogacio swished another three from the right side off a kick out from Clark with 20 seconds left in the second to tie the game at 30-30 going into the halftime break.

Roberts put the Dolphins in the lead early in the third quarter with an old fashioned three-point play, then she converted another three-point play at the 6:47 mark –– following three consecutive baskets from ISU –– to make it 38-36 in favor of the home team.

The Redbirds then went on a quick 8-0 spurt with the help of back-to-back threes from Shannon Dowell and Knudsen to extend their lead to 46-36.

With just under four minutes left in the third, Roberts caught a pass between two defenders in the paint then finished a contested layup to end the Illinois State run and cut Le Moyne's deficit back to single digits.

Roberts then got to the line during Le Moyne's next possession and sank two free throws, but Dowell answered with another three at the other end of the floor.

A fastbreak three from ISU freshman guard Trista Fayta with a little over a minute left in the third made it 52-40 in favor of the Redbirds, but Le Moyne scored the final five points of the period with two free throws from Bodziony and a three from Postell to cut their deficit to seven points heading into the final frame.

Illinois State shot 11-16 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to extend its lead to double digits and close out the win at home.

The Le Moyne women's basketball team will complete its two-game road swing on Monday with a 12:00 p.m. ET game at #23 University of Illinois. The first-ever meeting between the Dolphins and the Fighting Illini will air on Big Ten Plus.