Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team hosted the Wagner Seahawks and came away with a 62-49 victory at Ted Grant Court on Thursday night. The Dolphins are now 6-18 overall with a 4-7 record in NEC play this season.
Senior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y. / Albertus Magnus) collected her 1,000th career point scored and became the 18th player in program history to reach that mark en route to leading the team with 15 points against Wagner. She shot 37.5% from the field with a trio of three-pointers and a perfect 6-6 mark from the free-throw line. She added six rebounds and one assist in 32 minutes on the hardwood.
Junior forward Ashley Buragas (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / John Jay / Mineral Area College) also finished in the double-digits in points, tallying 13 on 4-10 shooting overall and adding five free throws. She led the team by dishing out three assists and tied junior forward Sydney Postell (Churchville, N.Y. / Churchville-Chili) with a team-high eight rebounds.
Junior guard Jessica Wangolo (Ottawa, O.N. / Capital Courts Academy / Buffalo) set a new career-high and tied freshman guard Kayden Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Manasquan) with nine points in the win. Freshman guard Peyton Dincher (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Jersey Shore) added another eight points on a pair of threes and two shots from the charity stripe, as well.
Le Moyne shot 16-42 (38.1%) from the field and 6-15 (40.0%) from deep with an .889 rate from the line. The Dolphins recorded 20 points in the paint, 16 points off turnovers, and 16 points off fastbreaks in the win.
Lijirin Doyinsola Modesayor matched Linnin's game-high 15 points on 6-12 shooting from the field while leading all players with 10 rebounds in a double-double. Klea Kaci also finished in the double-digits with 11 points including three buckets from beyond the arc.
Following a game-opening layup from Doyinsola Modesayor, the 'Phins quickly worked to an 8-2 lead by the midway point in the first quarter on points from Postell, Wangolo, Linnin, and sophomore guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Ocean Township). They held on defensively, limiting the Seahawks' offense to just five points the rest of the way while a three-pointer from Linnin closed the frame and provided Le Moyne with a 14-7 advantage.
Both teams struggled out of the gate in the second quarter, with the Dolphins not finding the bottom of the net until Linnin etched her name in the record books and collected her 1,000th point on a three-pointer with 6:22 remaining. Another deep bucket from Linnin just over a minute later extended the home team's lead to nine points, 20-11. Le Moyne finished the first half on an 11-5 run, as Buragas collected six points in the final four minutes and Dincher added a three of her own.
Coming out of the break with a 31-16 lead, three quick free-throws between Linnin and Wangolo set the stage for another strong offensive showing for the Dolphins in the third quarter of play. They worked to a 17-point advantage on a three from Postell with 1:45 to play in the frame before both teams traded free-throw opportunities in the final minutes.
A fastbreak layup and foul led to a successful three-point play from K. Clark just over a minute into the final quarter of play and another pair of shots from the charity stripe out of the hands of the freshman led to a game-high 19-point lead for the home Dolphins midway through the period.
Both teams went on a scoreless skid over the next two-plus minutes before the teams once again traded free throws leading into the final minute of action. A last-minute three-pointer from Irene Fernandez de Caleya wasn't enough for the Seahawks to close the gap as Le Moyne came away with the 62-49 home victory.
What's Next:
The Dolphins will travel to Loretto, Pa. for their second meeting of the season against Saint Francis at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7.
