Syracuse, N.Y. – Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) scored a game-high 22 points on a season-high 10 made field goals to lead the Le Moyne women's basketball team to a 58-45 win over LIU on Thursday at Ted Grant Court.

With 3:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, Baker made a free throw to complete a three-point play and record her 1,000^th career point, becoming just the 16^th player in program history to reach the scoring milestone.

Thursday's win gives the Dolphins their fourth NEC regular season sweep of the season, as they bested the LIU Sharks in Brooklyn on January 27 by a score of 80-62.

With an 11-2 conference record, Le Moyne sits in second place in the NEC Standings, and is guaranteed at least one home game in the Northeast Conference Tournament.

Redshirt-junior forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game, providing 11 points on 5-8 shooting from the field against the Sharks. Sophomore guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) added eight points, while graduate guard Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) tallied five points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.

Postgame comments from Le Moyne head coach Mary Grimes:


Postgame comments from fifth-year guard Lytoya Baker:


The Dolphins improve to 6-1 at home in NEC play, and they have now won four consecutive conference matchups. In each of their last five victories, the Dolphins have held their opponent to under 55 points.

Le Moyne scored a season-high 38 points in the paint on Thursday, and forced a season-best 25 turnovers while committing just 12.

As a team, the Dolphins compiled 16 assists on 24 made field goals, led by sophomore guard Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) who dished out a game-high five assists in addition to four rebounds, a team-high three steals and four points in 37 minutes played.

Goode, who set a program record for most steals by a freshman during the 2022-23 campaign, recorded her 100^th career steal during Thursday's win.

Junior forward Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) pulled down five rebounds to go along with two blocks, a steal and two field goals, while junior guard Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) recorded a career-best four assists for the second time this season in addition to two steals and two field goals.

LIU sophomore guard Mariah Elohim scored a team-high 20 point during the setback. Senior guard Ashley Austin also scored in double figures for the Sharks with 11 points in 38 minutes played.

Le Moyne trailed 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, but they outscored the Sharks in each of the final three frames, including a 21-9 edge in the fourth quarter, to improve their overall record to .500 (13-13) for the first time this season.

Following two made free throws by Linnin with 33 seconds remaining in the third period, the Dolphins held a 37-30 lead, but the Sharks closed the quarter on a quick 6-0 run, with the help of a four-point play from Elohim to make it a one-point game going into the fourth quarter.

Baker entered the game needing 20 points to reach 1,000, and after the third quarter she was eight points away.

She scored the first points of the fourth quarter by driving to the basket, making a layup through contact, and converting an old-fashioned three-point play.

During the next Le Moyne possession, Baker caught the ball in transition on the right wing, crossed over to her left, got into the paint and dropped off a nice pass to Williams for a layup.

Roberts swished a long two pointer with 7:46 left in the period to give Le Moyne a 7-0 run to start the final period.

Following a timeout, Austin and Nigeria Harkless scored back-to-back baskets for the Sharks to trim their deficit to four.

Baker scored another basket with just under five minutes remaining in the game, putting her just three points away from 1,000.

Elohim completed a three-point play with 4:06 remaining to make it 46-43 in favor of the Dolphins.

During the very next Le Moyne possession, Roberts caught the ball in the short corner in front of the Le Moyne bench. Baker cut towards the hoop, used a screen set by Linnin, accepted a pass from Roberts inside the restricted area, made a layup through contact, and drew a foul, giving her the chance to notch her 1,000^th career point at the free-throw line. Baker swished the free throw to reach the milestone, and the Le Moyne bench celebrated their teammate's special accomplishment.

Despite the added energy from the Le Moyne crowd, Elohim scored a floater at the other end to once again make it a four-point game.

With 2:35 remaining, Goode drove into the lane and dropped a dime to Roberts who made a layup through contact, drew a shooting foul and knocked down an additional free throw to complete the three-point play and put the 'Phins up 52-45.

Roberts and Baker each scored a layup in the final 1:30, then Goode made two free throws with a few seconds remaining as the Dolphins closed the game on a 9-0 run.

Le Moyne will look for its fifth NEC regular season sweep on Saturday as they travel to FDU to take on the Knights at 2:00 p.m.

The Dolphins previously defeated FDU in Syracuse in their NEC debut on January 6 by a score of 65-52.