Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team hosted Mercyhurst University in their second NEC contest of the season on Sunday afternoon, and suffered an 89-72 defeat at the hands of the Lakers. The Dolphins now sit with a 3-12 record overall and 1-1 conference mark through 15 games.
Senior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y. / Albertus Magnus) led all players in scoring against Mercyhurst, registering 21 points on 8-16 (50.0%) shooting from the field, a 3-9 (33.3%) rate from deep, and a perfect 2-2 mark from the line. Linnin also put up a team-high two steals and finished second on the team with both six rebounds and 29 minutes on the court. Linnin added a block on the defensive end, as well.
Junior forward Ashley Buragas (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / John Jay / Mineral Area College) also finished in double-digits for Le Moyne, recording 18 points on 7-10 (70.0%) shooting overall and 4-7 (57.1%) from the charity stripe. Buragas led the squad with 10 rebounds, marking her third double-double of the season, and added one block in 27 minutes on the hardwood.
Junior guard Jessica Wangolo (Ottawa, O.N. / Capital Courts Academy / Buffalo) and sophomore guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Ocean Township) tied for a team-best three assists in the loss.
Le Moyne connected on 44.8% (26-58) of their shots from the field while adding 44 points in the paint and 19 bench points. The team also set a new season-high in points off turnovers (19) for the second straight game.
Five different Lakers totaled double-digit points in their first win of the season, including Sofia Wilson who led the way with 19, Alena Fusetti who tallied 17, Cici Hernandez and Lena Walz who both added 16, and Erica Hall who finished with 11.
Walz and Quinn Maroney tied with seven rebounds to lead the squad while Walz, Wilson, and Jenna Van Scaik all tied for a game-high five assists.
Mercyhurst came out swinging to open the game as Hernandez connected on a three to get the scoring started before K. Clark tied it up with a three of her own for Le Moyne on the following possession.
The Lakers registered 13 of the next 16 points to take a 10-point lead before E. Clark cut the deficit by one at the charity stripe with 4:02 remaining. Mercyhurst added nine more points in the final minutes and took a 25-9 lead into the first break.
Le Moyne went over five and a half minutes without a field goal to start the second quarter, only registering four points off free throws from Buragas and Wangolo. Mercyhurst added 15 points in the same time frame before freshman forward Praise Matthews (Red Lion, Pa. / Dallastown) connected on a layup for Le Moyne.
The visiting squad went on a 10-6 run to close out the half, holding the Dolphins to just 6-25 (24.0%) shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes of play.
Coming out of the half with a 50-21 lead, Mercyhurst immediately added on with another three from Hernandez before Linnin followed with a bucket from range on the very next possession. After allowing six straight points on free-throws from the 4:13 to 3:19 marks, Le Moyne closed out the third quarter recording 12 unanswered points, including seven from Buragas, to lessen their deficit to 24; 70-46.
The Dolphins brought the game back within 20 points (76-57) on a layup from K. Clark with 6:12 remaining in the fourth before Mercyhurst went on another run to pull back out ahead late.
Both teams reached the bonus in the quarter and traded free throws in the final three minutes as Mercyhurst came away with their first win of the season, 89-72, at Ted Grant Court.
What's Next:
Le Moyne will take on New Haven for the first time as NEC rivals in their opening road conference game of the season at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8.
