Game #25 vs. FDU (NEC)
Info: Thursday, February 20 | Hackensack, N.J. | 5:00 p.m. | Bogota Savings Bank Center
Watch: ESPNU .... Live Stats: fduknights.com
Le Moyne Radio: Fox Sports Syracuse 92.5FM & 1490AM (foxsports1490.com)
FDU Links: Schedule | Roster | News | Stats

Hackensack, N.J. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team is set to take on the first-place FDU Knights in Northeast Conference action Thursday at FDU's Bogota Savings Bank Center on ESPNU, in what will be Le Moyne's first nationally televised regular season contest in program history. The Dolphins previously appeared on ESPNU for their NEC Tournament Championship game against Sacred Heart last season.

The first meeting of the season between the Dolphins and the Knights is set to tipoff at 5:00 p.m., and in addition to being broadcast on ESPNU, the contest will be available to stream on ESPN+.

THE MATCHUP:
Le Moyne and FDU met for the first time in women's basketball last season, during Le Moyne's debut campaign as a Division I member of the NEC.

Le Moyne won both regular season matchups against the Knights, then bested FDU in the semifinals of the NEC Tournament. During the first meeting last season, in Le Moyne's first-ever NEC contest, which was played at Ted Grant Court, Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) tallied 17 points and eight rebounds, while Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) added 11 points with the help of 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range to lead the Dolphins to a 65-52 victory.

During the rematch in Hackensack over a month later, Le Moyne erased a 14-point first-half deficit to claim a 70-60 victory. Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) registered a career-high 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block and zero turnovers in 28 minutes played off the bench during the road win.

During Le Moyne's postseason victory over the Knights at Ted Grant Court in mid-March, the Dolphins held FDU to 16-of-62 shooting from the field to record a 52-38 win with the help of a game-high 11 rebounds from Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford).

The Knights currently hold a three-game lead on first place in the NEC Standings with an 11-0 conference record, while Le Moyne sits in sixth with a 4-7 record against NEC competition.

DOLPHIN RUNDOWN:
Le Moyne most recently dropped both contests of a two-game road swing last week. The 'Phins traveled a total of about 1,600 miles, driving from Syracuse to Staten Island for a game against Wagner on February 13, then flying from the Newark Liberty International Airport to Chicago for a game against Chicago State on February 15, then flying back to Syracuse from Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Saturday evening.

The Wagner Seahawks recorded 19 assists on 22 made field goals Thursday to claim a 61-56 win over Le Moyne, avenging a 10-point loss in Syracuse at the beginning of February. Roberts recorded her third double-double of the season during the setback, while senior guard Mia Yanogacio (Somerset, N.J./Rutgers Prep/Delaware) shot 5-of-6 from the field, including a season-best 3-of-4 from three-point range, to finish the contest with 11 points, marking the third time this season that she has scored in double figures. Graduate guard Megan Bodziony (Wakefield, R.I./St. Andrew's School/Fordham/Bryant) added 10 points against the Seahawks to register her fifth double-digit scoring outing of the season, while Florvil and Williams added a team-high three assists each off the bench.

During Saturday's contest at Chicago State, the Dolphins trailed by 14 at halftime and were unable to trim the deficit to single digits during the final 20 minutes of play. Linnin scored a team-high 10 points for Le Moyne during the setback, marking the seventh time this season that she has led Le Moyne in scoring, while Florvil provided nine points, a career-high seven made free throws, six rebounds and three assists. Sophomore forward Zhara Adeyemi (Brooklyn, N.Y./South Shore) added eight points with the help of a career-high six made free throws, along with a season and career-high tying six rebounds. Roberts contributed nine points against the Cougars, surpassing 900 points for her career. Roberts currently ranks ninth in Le Moyne women's basketball program history for career rebounds with 621, and she is 19^th in scoring with 908 points.

On the year, Roberts leads the Dolphins in scoring (10.8) and rebounding (6.4), while Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township), who earned Le Moyne's first-ever NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow's Office Rookie of the Week Award on February 10, leads Le Moyne with 3.2 assists per game. Williams leads Le Moyne in blocks (0.7) and offensive rebounds (2.1) per game, and Florvil is the team leader in steals per game (1.4). Linnin (45) and Roberts (41) lead Le Moyne in total threes made this season, while Roberts (45) and Williams (40) lead the squad in made free throws.

Le Moyne Linda M. LeMura Endowed Head Women's Basketball Coach Nick DiPillo, a native of North Brunswick, New Jersey, competed for the FDU men's basketball team from 2001-2003.

NEC RANKS:
Le Moyne currently ranks second among NEC teams in free throw percentage (.773) and free throw attempts per conference game (17.6). The Dolphins are tied for third in three-point field goals made per conference game (6.3), and are fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.318) in NEC games. Individually, Linnin is second among NEC players in made three-point field goals per conference game (2.4), Williams is second in offensive rebounds per conference game (2.4), Clark is third in assists (4.0), and Florvil is fourth in steals (1.9). Additionally, Roberts is 14^th in the league in points per conference game (12.5), eighth in rebounds (6.4), and sixth in three-point field goals made (1.7), and Williams is 10^th in total rebounding average (5.8) and eighth in blocks (0.7).

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS:
Amidst an impressive season in Hackensack, FDU (21-3, 11-0 NEC) entered the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Rankings for the first time last week. They remained at No. 25 in the poll this week. The Knights are currently on a 14-game winning streak, which is a program record, and hold a three-game lead on first place in the league standings. Freshman guard Ava Renninger, graduate forward Teneisia Brown, and graduate guard Abaigeal Babore are each averaging double-figures for FDU on the year and in conference play. Renninger is averaging a team-high 14.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, Brown is providing 13.8 points, an NEC-best 9.4 rebounds per game, and 1.8 assists, while Babore is contributing 10.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-high 3.2 assists per game.

During conference play, Renninger and Brown are averaging 15.5 and 14.3 points, respectively. Renninger has been named the NEC Rookie of the Week eight times, and Player of the Week two times, while Brown has been NEC Player of the Week on five different occasions. The Knights most recently claimed three consecutive road wins against Central Connecticut, Wagner and Chicago State, followed by a home win against LIU on Saturday. FDU is 11-0 at home so far this season.

As a team, the Knights are 1st in the NEC in points per game (68.2), points allowed (52.3), scoring margin (15.9), turnover margin (4.45), and assist to turnover ratio (1.27) during conference play. FDU ranks 36^th among all Division I teams in points allowed per game (56.9), and is tied for 18^th in winning percentage (87.5)

During wins over Chicago State and LIU last week, Brown averaged 19.5 points and 12.0 rebounds to earn Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Division I Player of the Week honors for the first time, as well as NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow's Office Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. Brown is currently tied for 36^th among all Division I players in double-doubles this season with 10.

During conference play, Renninger is fourth among all NEC players in points per game (14.5) and made threes per game (1.9), Brown is first in rebounds per game (9.4) and second in field goal percentage (.519), and Babore is first in free throw percentage (.941), second in assist to turnover ratio (1.6) and fourth in assists average (3.2).

FDU has not forced a tremendous amount of turnovers in league play, currently ranking seventh in the NEC in turnovers forced per conference game (13.0), but they take great care of the ball on offense, committing by far the fewest turnovers per game (12.2) among NEC teams against conference competition, giving them the best turnover margin in the Northeast Conference (0.83).

FDU is led by head coach Stephanie Gaitley, who surpassed 700 career wins earlier this season

UP NEXT:
Following Thursday's game at FDU, Le Moyne will return home to host LIU on Saturday at noon. The Dolphins will celebrate 'Senior Day' prior to tipoff against the Sharks.