Game #27 vs. Central Connecticut State (NEC)
Info: Thursday, February 27 | Syracuse, N.Y. | 6:00 p.m. | Ted Grant Court
Watch: NEC Front Row .... Live Stats: lemoynedolphins.com
Le Moyne Radio: The Voice of Syracuse WSIV 106.3FM & 1540AM (wvoaradio.com)
CCSU Links: Schedule | Roster | News | Stats

Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team will host the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils Thursday evening at Ted Grant Court. The second meeting this season between the Dolphins and the Blue Devils will tipoff at 6:00 p.m. and will be streamed on NEC Front Row. Le Moyne fans can also tune into the radio broadcast for pregame, in-game and postgame coverage with the voice of Le Moyne women's basketball Tim McCaffrey on The Voice of Syracuse WSIV 106.3FM & 1540AM and at wvoaradio.com.

THE MATCHUP:
In the first meeting this season between the two sides at CCSU's Detrick Gymnasium on January 25, the Dolphins trailed the Blue Devils 43-38 at the end of the third quarter, but Central Connecticut State pulled away in the fourth to claim a 67-50 conference victory. CCSU graduate guard Belle Lanpher scored a game-high 20 points with five rebounds and four assists, while senior guard Amaya Williams recorded 13 points, and graduate forward Meghan Kenefick tallied 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Blue Devils.

Graduate forward Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent, N.Y./Holland Patent) led the Dolphins in scoring during the defeat with 16 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore forward Zhara Adeyemi (Brooklyn, N.Y./South Shore) shot 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line to register a career-high 14 points. Senior guard Mia Yanogacio (Somerset, N.J./Rutgers Prep/Delaware) also scored in double figures for Le Moyne with 10 points in 33 minutes of action.

Le Moyne and CCSU met for the first time in women's basketball during the 2023-24 season, with Le Moyne claiming both regular season matchups by double digits.

CCSU currently sits in third place in the NEC Standings with an 8-5 conference record, while Le Moyne is in sixth with a 5-8 record against NEC competition.

DOLPHIN RUNDOWN:
Le Moyne is coming off one of its best performances of the season Saturday at home against LIU. During the 83-53 win over the Sharks, the Dolphins set new season highs in points, field goals made (27), and margin of victory (30). The 53 points allowed is tied for the second-fewest points allowed by Le Moyne in a game this season. The Dolphins tied their season high of 10 steals, their .466 field goal percentage was their best mark in a conference game, and their 13 offensive rebounds is tied for the most they have recorded in NEC play so far this season.

Junior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) shot 7-of-13 from three-point range against the Sharks, marking the second time this season that she has tied the Le Moyne women's basketball single-game program record of seven made threes. She finished the contest with a game-high 25 points, while Roberts provided 20 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks, marking the second time this season that Linnin and Roberts have each recorded 20-plus points during a conference victory.

The other instance was during a 77-71 overtime win over Chicago State in January, when Linnin registered a career-best 28 points and Roberts delivered a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double. The 49 combined points from Linnin and Roberts against CSU is the most points scored by two Le Moyne players in a game since the 2019-20 season, when McKayla Roberts and Jenna Zimmerman combined for 52 points during a 77-71 win over Southern New Hampshire with the help of McKayla Roberts' program record 39 points, which included a program record tying seven made threes.

The win over LIU snapped a three-game skid for Le Moyne, after the Dolphins won four of six contests beginning with the win over Chicago State.

The Dolphins are currently 5-1 at home in Northeast Conference play, with their only home conference loss coming in overtime against Saint Francis on February 6.

During Le Moyne's five conference wins, Linnin is averaging a team-high 18.6 points with 4.6 made threes per game, while Roberts is providing 15.4 points and 7.4 rebounds and freshman guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) is adding 8.6 points and 5.2 assists.

On the year, Roberts and Linnin lead Le Moyne in scoring with 11.1 and 10.7 points per game, respectively. During conference play, Roberts is averaging 12.7 points, while Linnin is close behind at 12.0. Both players were named NEC Prime Performers on Monday. Roberts has now earned the distinction a team-high six times this season, while Linnin has been named a Prime Performer on four occasions.

Roberts' 6.5 rebounds per conference game ranks sixth among all NEC players, while senior forward Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) is third in the league in offensive rebounds at 2.3 per conference game. Linnin ranks second in NEC play in both three-point field goals per game (2.8) and three-point field goal percentage (.374), while Clark is third in assists average (3.9) and senior guard Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) is fourth in steals (1.7).

During Le Moyne's last two wins against Mercyhurst and LIU, Florvil has averaged 8.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals.

Graduate guard Megan Bodziony (Wakefield, R.I./St. Andrew's School/Fordham/Bryant) also had a strong outing against LIU, tallying 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Williams has been an important part of Le Moyne's five victories, averaging 9.0 points, 8.0 rebounds during those contests. She scored Le Moyne's final two baskets during the 60-58 win over Mercyhurst on February 8, including the go-ahead basket with 1:31 left in the fourth.

During conference play, Le Moyne ranks second in the NEC in free-throw percentage (0.772), free throw attempts (17.5), and opponent free throw attempts per game (10.6), third in made threes per game (6.5), and fifth in points allowed (63.9).

RECOGNIZING TRACK & FIELD, SWIMMING & DIVING MEDAL WINNERS:
At halftime of Thursday's game, Le Moyne Athletics will be recognizing each of the NEC Championships medalists on women's indoor track & field, as well as the men's and women's swimming & diving teams. Those being honored are junior Lilly Capria (1st in women's High Jump), freshman Jacey Locci (3rd in women's High Jump), freshman Lucas Clay (2nd in men's 200-yard Breaststroke), junior Patrick Scott (2nd in men's 1m Diving) and freshman Gabby Williams (3rd in women's 1m Diving)

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS:
CCSU has won each of its last three games, with road wins at Saint Francis and Stonehill sandwiching a 62-61 home victory over Chicago State on February 20.

Belle Lanpher was named the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow's Office Player of the Week for the fourth time this season on Monday. Lanpher tallied 19 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals during the win over CSU, then scored 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, 6-of-8 from three-point range and 7-of-8 from the line during a big 84-68 road win over the Skyhawks. Lanpher has recorded an NEC-leading three 30-plus point games so far this season.

She is averaging a league-best 23.3 points per conference game, and is shooting 83.3% from the line during conference play, which is the second-best mark among NEC players. The 5'5" guard is also ninth in rebounding average (6.0) and offensive rebounding average (1.8) during conference play, while Kenefick is eighth in rebounding (6.2).

On the year, Lanpher leads the Blue Devils in points (22.8), rebounds (5.8), assists (3.5) and steals (1.4) in 16 games played.

CCSU has gotten big contributions from two rookies this season in redshirt-freshman forward Selina Monestime and freshman guard Dagny Slomack. Through 25 games played, Slomack is third on the team in scoring with 8.2 points per game, while Monestime is averaging 7.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks in 23 games played. Monestime is third among NEC players in blocks per conference game at 1.2.

During conference play, senior guard Amaya Williams is second on the team in scoring with 9.9 points per game in addition to 2.4 assists and 2.7 rebounds. Kenefick is providing 7.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists through 13 conference contests.

As a team, CCSU is first in rebounding average during conference play at 37.3, second in offensive rebounding average (11.7) and third in scoring (66.9), scoring margin (2.7), turnover margin (2.54), assist to turnover ratio (0.96) and defensive rebounds (25.6).

Following Thursday's contest, CCSU will play its final home game of the regular season Saturday against Wagner, then will travel to LIU for its regular season finale on March 6.

UP NEXT:
Following Thursday's contest against CCSU, Le Moyne will have one away game and one home game remaining on its regular season schedule. The Dolphins will play at Stonehill on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., then they will host first-place FDU for a 6:00 p.m. game at Ted Grant Court on March 6.