Loretto, Pa. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team traveled to Saint Francis and earned a 62-50 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Dolphins now have a 7-18 overall with a 5-7 mark in conference play this season.
Junior forward Ashley Buragas (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / John Jay / Mineral Area College) led all players with 23 points including 11-12 shooting from the free-throw line. She also added a team-high eight rebounds and tied with sophomore guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Ocean Township) and freshman guard Kayden Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Manasquan) for a team-best three assists in 26 minutes on the court.
Junior forward Sydney Postell (Churchville, N.Y. / Churchville-Chili) also finished with double-digit points, tallying 12 on 5-7 shooting from the field with one three-pointer and one free-throw, as well. She also brought in six rebounds to finish behind Buragas in the start.
Le Moyne shot 19-44 (43.2%) from the field and 20-22 (90.9%) from the line in the win. The Dolphins recorded 30 points in the paint, 14 points off turnovers, and 18 points off the bench against the Red Flash.
Sonia Sato led SFU's offense with 13 points on 5-11 shooting from the field and a trio of three-pointers while Gemma Walker finished with 11 points including seven from the charity stripe. Giselle Eke led the home squad and tied Buragas for the game-high in rebounds with eight as Aleah James set a game-best mark in assists with four.
Both teams started off cold offensively as Le Moyne was unable to crack the scoreboard until Buragas connected on a free throw at the 7:29 mark in the first quarter. A layup from freshman guard Peyton Dincher (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Jersey Shore) less than a minute later tied the game at 3-3 and the Dolphins grabbed their first lead on a layup from K. Clark with 4:15 remaining in the first.
The two squads traded free-throw opportunities in the final minute and the 'Phins took a 15-14 advantage into the first break after a pair of buckets from both junior guard Jessica Wangolo (Ottawa, O.N. / Capital Courts Academy / Buffalo) and Buragas at the line.
A three-pointer out of the hand of Makyiah Ward gave SFU a 24-21 lead at the midway point of the second quarter before Le Moyne went on an 11-2 run over the next five minutes to go up by six points late. A pair of free throws from Walker sent the Red Flash to the half facing a 32-28 deficit.
The 'Phins quickly extended their lead out of the half with quick points from Postell in the opening minutes putting them up by seven, 35-28. The visiting team reached their first double-digit lead of the game with 3:19 left in the third quarter on a bucket beyond the arc out of the hands of senior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y. / Albertus Magnus).
Le Moyne continued to run their lead up in the final quarter of play as a successful and-one conversion from Buragas put them up, 52-39. A layup from Postell with 2:15 left provided the Dolphins with their largest lead of the day at 14 points, 56-42, before late free-throws from Buragas, Dincher, and E. Clark closed out the team's 62-50 road win.
What's Next:
The Dolphins will travel to Chicago State for a 2:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. CT tip-off on Saturday, Feb. 14.
