West Haven, Conn. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team traveled to New Haven for their opening road NEC game of the season on Thursday night and came away with a 48-40 victory over the Chargers. The Dolphins now have a 4-12 record overall and are 2-1 in conference action this season.
Senior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y. / Albertus Magnus) led all players in scoring for the second consecutive game, tallying 17 points on 5-13 (38.5%) shooting from the field, a 4-12 (33.3%) rate from beyond the arc, and a 3-4 mark from the free-throw line.
Linnin added three rebounds and tied her career-high in steals with four (12/31/23 vs Princeton) in 32 minutes on the hardwood.
Sophomore guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Ocean Township) finished just behind Linnin with 13 points on 4-6 (66.7%) shooting overall, a 1-3 three-point rate, and a perfect 4-4 mark from the charity stripe. E. Clark registered a team-leading five assists to go along with four boards and one steal in a team-high 34 minutes.
Juniors Ashley Buragas (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / John Jay / Mineral Area College) and Jessica Wangolo (Ottawa, O.N. / Capital Courts Academy / Buffalo) finished tied for the team-lead in rebounds with five.
Le Moyne shot 38.5% (15-39) from the field but held New Haven to a 33.3% (17-51) mark in the same category. The Dolphins' 31.6% (6-19) rate from three and 75.0% (12-16) night at the line also ranked higher than the Chargers.
Lindsay Hogan and Addisen Sulikowski tied for New Haven's lead in scoring with 10 points apiece, with Sulikowski putting up a game-high eight rebounds and Merit Innocent contributing a team-best three assists in the loss.
Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net in the opening frame with the Dolphins going nearly four minutes before Buragas added a fastbreak layup to crack the scoreboard. Buragas added a jumper in the paint with 1:54 left in the first to give the squad a 6-4 lead before E. Clark extended it with a layup.
A layup from Sulikowski closed the scoring in the first quarter and sent New Haven to the first break with an 8-6 deficit.
Four quick points from Hogan and Innocent to open the second quarter gave the Chargers the lead, 10-8, and they held onto the advantage through a four-plus minute dry spell which saw neither team able to connect on a shot.
Linnin tied the game at 12-12 with a fastbreak three-pointer at the 2:06 mark and put the Dolphins on top less than a minute later with another bucket from deep. A late three from Schuyler Coles put New Haven back on top and they headed into halftime with a 17-15 lead.
The Chargers extended their lead to seven, 22-15, within two minutes out of the break before free throws from Linnin and layups by Buragas and E. Clark brought the 'Phins back within one.
New Haven took the lead once again, 28-27, on a tip-in from Aniya Perry-McDonald at the 2:42 mark left in the frame before Wangolo added a pair of free-throws to put Le Moyne ahead in the closing minute of the quarter.
An opening fourth quarter possession three-pointer from Linnin put the Dolphins up by four as the team held on the rest of the way, scoring the final five points on a three from freshman guard Kayden Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Manasquan) and free throws from E. Clark to take the road contest, 48-40.
What's Next:
Le Moyne will travel to Central Connecticut State University (0-14, 0-3 NEC) for another road conference game this Saturday, Jan. 10 at 1:00 p.m.
