Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team concluded their three-game home stretch on Friday evening with a 72-51 win over the visiting Stonehill Skyhawks, which improved their Northeast Conference record to 8-2.

Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) led the Dolphins in scoring with 15 points each. Baker also pulled down 12 rebounds to record her NEC-leading ninth double-double of the season and fourth consecutive game with double-digit rebounds, while Lusher tallied five steals for the third time this season to go along with four assists and four rebounds in a team-high 34 minutes played.

Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) knocked down four three pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Dolphins pull away and outscore the Skyhawks 22-11 in the final period. The sophomore guard also contributed a career-high two blocks and two steals.

Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) was the fourth Dolphin to score in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.

Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) added nine points and a game-high five assists for the 'Phins, who improved to 5-1 at home in conference action.

Stonehill senior guard Jada Thornton scored a game-high 17 points with 12 rebounds and three assists to record her second double-double of the season, while senior forward Cameron Ward also scored in double figures for the Skyhawks with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Junior forward Maureen Stapleton, one of four players in today's game who also participated in the most recent meeting between these two programs during the 2021-22 season (the others being Baker, Roberts for Le Moyne and Thornton for Stonehill) pulled down eight rebounds to go along with five points.

Game Highlights:


Postgame comments from Le Moyne head coach Mary Grimes and Lytoya Baker:


The Dolphins made 17 field goals during the second half as they outscored the Skyhawks 43-28 in the final 20 minutes of play.

Stonehill, which entered the contest averaging a league-best seven three pointers per conference game, shot just 3-16 from beyond the arc on Friday.

Le Moyne forced the Skyhawks into 21 turnovers and scored 23 points off of those turnovers. The Dolphins tallied 32 points in the paint and used 14 offensive rebounds to compile 15 second-chance points.

Le Moyne shot just 3-12 from the field in the opening quarter, and Stonehill grabbed six offensive rebounds in the first period which helped them establish a 12-10 lead after 10 minutes of play.

Le Moyne outscored Stonehill by a tally of 19-11 in the second period to take a 29-23 lead into halftime.

Freshman guard Leah Middleton (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) scored two field goals in the second frame, while Roberts recorded eight of her points during the quarter.

Lusher delivered two dazzling dimes during the final 1:30 of the second quarter, the first of which was a perfect bounce pass to Baker on a back door cut from the right wing to the block. Then with just over 30 seconds left in the first half she intercepted a pass at the top of Le Moyne's zone, wrapped a dribble behind her back to get past a Stonehill player and into the open floor, and finished off the fast break effort with a no-look bounce pass to a sprinting Middleton who converted the layup at the left block.

Lusher picked up right where she left off in the second half, scoring back-to-back baskets in the first 1:10 of the third quarter to give the 'Phins a 10-point lead.

Thornton made consecutive midrange jumpers from inside the paint at the 6:51 and 5:57 marks to trim her team's deficit to 37-30.

Three pointers from Lusher and Goode at the 3:38 and 2:47 marks sandwiched a dribble pull up from Thornton, who scored eight of her points during the third frame.

Two free throws from Roberts with 1:06 left in the third gave the Dolphins a 50-36 lead, but Ward scored the final four points of the quarter on free throws to make it a 10-point game going into the fourth.

Thorton got to the basket and converted a contested layup during Stonehill's first possession of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to single digits, but Linnin rattled home a step back three from straight on at the other end to make it an 11-point game.

Following an offensive rebound from Baker with 8:35 remaining, Linnin caught the ball on the right wing, gave her defender a pump fake, then sidestepped to her left and buried another triple.

Junior forward Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) converted a putback layup with 7:23 remaining, then Goode drove from the top of the key to the right block and finished a contested scoop layup to extend the lead to 60-44.

Following baskets from Williams and Baker, Linnin's third three pointer of the quarter at the 4:47 mark in the fourth mad it 67-45 in favor of the Dolphins.

The final basket of the contest was scored by Le Moyne junior guard Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) who drove left past her defender and scored a scoop layup with just over a minute remaining.

The Le Moyne women's basketball team will begin a three-day, two-game road swing with a rematch against Central Connecticut State on Thursday. The Dolphins previously bested the CCSU Blue Devils at home on January 19.

The Dolphins will then take on Stonehill once again on Saturday in North Easton.