Game #31 vs. FDU
Northeast Conference Tournament Semifinals
Info: Thursday, March 14 | Syracuse, N.Y. | 7 p.m. | Ted Grant Court
Tickets: lemoynedolphins.com/tickets
Watch: YES Network, ESPN+ .... Live Stats: lemoynedolphins.com
Listen: foxsports1490.com
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FDU Links: Schedule | Roster | News | Stats


Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team is set to host an NEC Tournament Semifinal game on Thursday at Ted Grant Court against the FDU Knights.

The second-seeded Dolphins defeated seventh-seeded Stonehill College on Monday at home by a score of 79-59 in what was the NEC Tournament debut for both teams, while the third-seeded Knights advanced to the tournament semifinals for the third year in a row with a 71-59 win over the no. 6 seed LIU on Monday in Hackensack.

Thursday's postseason matchup will tip-off at 7 p.m., and will air on the YES Network and ESPN+. 

The Matchup:
Le Moyne (17-13, 14-2 NEC) won both regular seasons meetings against FDU (14-16, 11-5 NEC). The Dolphins defeated the Knights at Ted Grant Court in their Northeast Conference debut on January 6 by a score of 65-52 with the help of a season-high 17 points and eight rebounds from redshirt-junior forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent). Fifth-year senior guard Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and sophomore guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) both also scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

FDU senior forward Teneisia Brown registered a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds during the setback, while senior guard Abby Conklin tallied a game-high 18 points in 40 minutes played.

During the second-ever meeting between the two sides on February 24 in New Jersey, FDU got off to a hot start on their home floor, leading by as many as 14 points during the first half. Le Moyne worked its way back into the game, trimming the deficit to seven points by halftime then tying the game at 44-44 at the end of the third period.

The two sides went back and forth through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, then a Lytoya Baker basket in the paint with 4:57 remaining gave Le Moyne a 56-55 advantage and began a 15-0 run for the Dolphins that put the contest away and secured another regular season sweep for the 'Phins.

Baker finished the road victory with 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, a steal and just one turnover in 39 minutes played. Junior guard Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth), whose nine first-half points helped Le Moyne weather the storm and stay in the game, recorded a career-best 13 points on 5-6 shooting from the field and 3-3 from the line in addition to seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block and zero turnovers in 28 minutes played off the bench.

Le Moyne scored 42 points in the paint during that contest, which was a season high at the time. The Dolphins shot just 2-11 from three-point range, but went 16-22 from the line and committed a season-low six turnovers.

Brown had another good game for FDU during the setback, tallying 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, while sophomore forward Lilly Parke added 15 points and six rebounds. FDU took 31 three pointers against Le Moyne's zone defense, and connected on seven of them.

During the regular season conference slate, Le Moyne held opponents to a league-best 25.7% from three-point range, and FDU shot a league-best 33.7% from three-point range.

All-Conference Honorees:
Thursday's semifinal matchup in Syracuse will feature five players who received NEC All-Conference accolades and three individuals who received a major NEC Award.

The Dolphins will be led by the 2023-24 Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year award winner Mary Grimes, who has now claimed two conference coach of the year awards in her three seasons as the program's leader (Grimes was named Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year in 2022-23).

Baker, who averaged 15.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks during Le Moyne's 16 conference games, was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year, and also earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team.

Teneisia Brown joined Baker on the All-NEC First Team after averaging 13.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks during conference play, while Conklin was placed on the All-Conference Second Team and took home the Most Improved Player award after averaging 10.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in a team-high 37.9 minutes played during conference action.

FDU freshman guard Staci Williams earned a spot on the NEC All-Rookie Team after averaging 11.8 points during NEC play.

FDU head coach Stephanie Gaitley was named NEC Coach of the Year in 2006 when she was patrolling the sidelines for LIU, where she spent six years as the head coach.

Quarterfinal results:
Both the second-seeded Dolphins and the third-seeded Knights played at home in the first round of the NEC Tournament.

During Le Moyne's 79-59 win over Stonehill, Baker recorded her league-leading 13^th double-double of the year with 22 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. She also tied her season-high of 10 made field goals on just 16 attempts. Linnin and Roberts also scored in double figures for the Dolphins with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Although Stonehill made their first three three-pointers of the contest, Le Moyne came out of the gates at a blistering pace, scoring 26 first-quarter points on 11-13 shooting from the field, including 2-3 from three-point range.

Sharn Hayward paced the Skyhawks offensively with 20 points on 7-10 from the field and 6-9 from three-point range, and Stonehill knocked down 12 three pointers on 27 attempts during the 40 minutes, but Le Moyne shot 51.6% (32-62) from the field, and 42.9% (6-14) from three, and scored a season-high 44 points in the paint to extend its win streak to eight games.

Le Moyne's reserve unit tallied 27 points during the win, with 11 points from Roberts, eight from Florvil, six from freshman guard Leah Middleton (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) and two from sophomore guard Michelina Lombardi (Wynantskill, N.Y./Averill Park).

Le Moyne's 79 points was one shy of their season-best 80 points scored at LIU on January 27.

During Monday's quarterfinal matchup in New Jersey, LIU jumped out an early lead at FDU, leading the Knights 14-7 midway through the first quarter, but a three-pointer from Conklin just before the first-quarter buzzer gave the Knights an 18-16 lead after 10 minutes of play.

LIU then grabbed the lead back and held it for the first five minutes of the second quarter, but FDU closed the first half on an 13-2 run to establish a nine-point lead at the intermission, and following a three-pointer by Parke less than 30 seconds into the third quarter, the Knights would lead by double digits for the remainder of the contest.

Brown shot 13-20 from the field and finished the contest with 30 points, 10 rebounds and three steals, while Parke and senior guard Abaigeal Babore both scored 11 points with eight and seven rebounds, respectively, and Conklin added 10 points with three made threes. Parke also distributed a season-high five assists.

FDU shot 19-20 from the free-throw line during the win.

The Knights are currently on a win streak of their own. Following their loss to Le Moyne at home on February 24, FDU won three consecutive road games against Merrimack, Wagner and Central Connecticut State to close the regular season, and Monday's victory over LIU extended FDU's win streak to four games, which ties their longest win streak of the season.
 
What's on the line:
FDU, which won the 2022-23 NEC Regular Season Championship with a 14-2 conference record but lost to Sacred Heart in the NEC Tournament Championship game, will look to make its second consecutive appearance in the NEC title game.

Le Moyne will be looking to make an appearance in the NEC Tournament Final in its first year in the Northeast Conference, and its first season at the Division I level.

The Dolphins, who were picked to finish eighth in the NEC Preseason Coaches Poll, claimed six conference regular season sweeps and defeated every other NEC team at least once during the regular season to earn the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and finish one game behind the regular season champs Sacred Heart.

Le Moyne has not appeared in a conference tournament championship game since the 2018-19 campaign when the Dolphins defeated Bentley in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Final. Mary Grimes was an assistant coach on that team.

The winner of Thursday's game at Ted Grant Court will play the winner of top-seeded Sacred Heart and fourth-seeded Merrimack on Sunday.

If Sacred Heart defeats Merrimack, then the Pios will host the NEC Tournament Championship, but if Merrimack records the upset, then the winner of Le Moyne vs. FDU will host the title game.

Both semifinal contests will tip-off at 7 p.m.