Box Score Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team shot 13-of-28 from three-point range Saturday to claim a come-from-behind 77-71 overtime victory over the Chicago State University Cougars to claim the team's first Northeast Conference victory of the season, and the program's first win under head coach Nick DiPillo.

Junior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) tallied a career-best 28 points and tied the program record for most three-point field goals made in a game with seven. Graduate forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) shot 6-of-8 from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range to finish the contest with 21 points and 10 rebounds and record her second double-double of the campaign.

Senior forward Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) registered her first double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, while freshman guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) provided nine points and a season-high 10 assists.

Le Moyne trailed by 13 early in the fourth quarter, but the Dolphins outscored the Cougars 19-6 in the final nine minutes of regulation to force overtime, then shot 10-of-12 from the free-throw line in the overtime period to secure the conference victory in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

The Dolphins shot 20-of-26 from the free-throw line during the 45 minutes of play, which marks the fifth time this season that they have taken at least 20 free throws in a game.

Le Moyne's 13 made three-point field goals and 46.4% shooting from three both mark season highs for the 'Phins. The Dolphins also surpassed their season-high point total with 77. Le Moyne tallied 15 assists on 22 made field goals Saturday, which is the second-highest assist total for the team this season. Le Moyne forced a season-high 20 turnovers during the win, and pulled down 44 rebounds, which was one shy of their season high.

Aiyanna Culver led the Cougars with 18 points, four rebounds and four assists during the setback.

Chicago State got off to a strong start Saturday and established a 17-4 lead early on, but Le Moyne scored final six points of the opening period to make it 17-10 after 10 minutes of action. The Dolphins committed nine turnovers during the second quarter, but Linnin and Roberts each knocked down three threes during the frame, with the team shooting 7-of-9 in the second to trim the deficit to 33-31 at halftime.

Following five consecutive points from Linnin to begin the third quarter, which gave the Dolphins a 36-33 lead, the Cougars went on a 15-2 run to build a 48-38 advantage with 3:38 left in the third.
A jumper from Culver with 1:24 on the clock gave the Cougars a 12-point lead, but Linnin drilled a fadeaway three pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer to make it 52-43 in favor of the visitors heading into the fourth.

Roberts and Linnin knocked down back-to-back threes at the 3:50 and 3:12 marks in the fourth to make it a one-possession game, then Williams and Clark each made a free throw to tie the game at 60-60.

Kace Urlacher converted a jumper for the Cougars with 49 seconds left to put CSU back in front, but Clark drew a foul and made two clutch free throws with 35 seconds remaining to send the contest to overtime.

Williams drained five free throws during the overtime period, and Linnin buried a clutch corner three with an assist from Clark with just under a minute remaining to put the 'Phins in position to claim their first conference victory of 2025.

Postgame Comments from Nick DiPillo and Sierra Linnin:


Le Moyne will return to action Monday when they host Stonehill College for a 4:30 p.m. Northeast Conference matchup at Ted Grant Court.