Teaneck, N.J. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team traveled to FDU for a matchup with the Knights on Thursday night. The Dolphins fell, 66-38, against the Knights who remain undefeated in NEC action on the season. They now hold an 11-18 season record with an 8-8 mark in conference play, placing them fifth in the NEC standings.
Freshman guard Peyton Dincher (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Jersey Shore) and junior forward Ashley Buragas (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / John Jay / Mineral Area College) tied for the team lead in points with eight apiece in the loss. Dincher shot 2-4 overall with a pair of threes and a 2-2 rate from the free-throw line while Buragas shot 3-9 from the field and the same mark from the charity stripe.
Sophomore guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Ocean Township) and senior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y. / Albertus Magnus) followed with six and five points each, respectively.
Buragas and junior forward Sydney Postell (Churchville, N.Y. / Churchville-Chili) tied to lead the 'Phins with four rebounds each while Buragas dishes out a team-best three assists.
Le Moyne shot 14-48 (29.2%) from the field, 5-25 (20.0%) from three-point range, and 5-5 from the line against the Knights. The Dolphins recorded 14 points in the paint and 14 points off the bench on Thursday.
Madlena Gerke led all players with 14 points on 5-17 shooting including four three-pointers while Ava Renninger also finished in the double-digits with 10 points against the Dolphins. Renninger also led FDU with nine rebounds and four assists in the victory.
The hosts got off to a quick 5-0 lead in the opening minute of play on a layup from Rebecca Osei-Owusu and the first of Gerke's buckets from deep before eventually extending their lead to nine, 12-3, at the 4:03 mark left in the first quarter.
A late three from Dincher along with a layup by Buragas and jumper out of the hands of freshman guard Kayden Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Manasquan) lessened the Dolphins deficit to five points, 15-10, at the first break.
A pair of free-throws followed by another layup by Buragas worked Le Moyne back to within a pair of points less than four minutes into the second frame before FDU caught fire and closed out the first half on a 12-3 run over the final five minutes.
Entering the third quarter down, 28-17, junior guard Jessica Wangolo (Ottawa, O.N. / Capital Courts Academy / Buffalo) quickly got the 'Phins back in the scoring column with a layup before the Knights again went on a run, this time outscoring Le Moyne, 13-2, over the next six minutes of action.
Buckets from K. Clark and Linnin closed out the quarter for the Dolphins' offense as they faced a 43-25 deficit going into the final 10 minutes of game time.
Le Moyne tacked on a pair of three-pointers from Linnin and Postell in the fourth, but FDU was able to close out the win with a 23-13 scoring margin in the final quarter of action to seal the 66-38 win at home.
What's Next:
Le Moyne will return to Ted Grant Court to host New Haven in their regular season home finale and Senior Day on ESPN+ at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28.
