Teaneck, N.J. – The #5 Le Moyne College women's basketball team's 2025-26 season came to a close with a 71-51 loss at #1 FDU during the semifinal round of the NEC Tournament on Thursday night.
Junior forward Ashley Buragas (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / John Jay / Mineral Area College) led the Dolphins with 16 points, seven rebounds, and three steals against the Knights. Buragas shot 6-16 from the field with a 4-6 mark from the line in 32 minutes on the hardwood.
Sophomore guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Ocean Township) also finished with double-digit points for Le Moyne, tallying 11 points on 4-10 shooting overall including a 3-5 day from three-point range. E. Clark dished out a team-high two assists, as well.
Junior guard Jessica Wangolo (Ottawa, O.N. / Capital Courts Academy / Buffalo) added eight points on 3-7 shooting along with four rebounds, and one steal.
Le Moyne shot 18-58 (31.0%) from the field, 7-16 (43.8%) from three-point range, and 8-12 (66.7%) from the line. The Dolphins recorded 20 points in the paint and nine points off turnovers in the loss.
Ava Renninger led all players with 21 points on 9-13 shooting including a trio of buckets from beyond the arc. She also led all players with 10 rebounds and five assists to close out the double-double. Madlena Gerke (13) and Rebecca Osei-Owusu (12) also added double-digit points for FDU.
Gerke opened the scoring with a jumper early in the first quarter before Wangolo and senior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y. / Albertus Magnus) connected on back-to-back shots to give Le Moyne their lone lead of the game, 4-2. The Dolphins added four points in the final half of the frame on a free-throw from Buragas and three out of the hands of freshman guard Peyton Dincher (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Jersey Shore) as FDU closed out the quarter with a 17-8 advantage.
Following a pair of buckets by the Knights early in the second quarter, the Dolphins went on an 8-5 run highlighted by another Dincher three-pointer to cut their deficit to 11 points, 27-16, with 4:50 left in the half. FDU closed out the first 20 minutes of play on a 9-2 streak to head to the break with a 36-18 lead.
Le Moyne again worked closer in the middle of the third frame as E. Clark drained three shots from deep in just over two minutes. FDU added 10 points in the final 4:06 to head to the final quarter of play with a 55-35 lead over the Dolphins.
The Knights kicked off the fourth quarter with a layup from Reese Downey before Le Moyne added seven-straight points to cut FDU's lead to 15 points, 57-42, on a three from Linnin with 6:13 remaining in regulation. The Dolphins were held scoreless for nearly three minutes late in the quarter before Wangolo added a three-pointer and Linnin banked a pair of free-throws for the team's final points of the game.
FDU finished out the 71-51 win on a last-minute jumper from Joi Johnson.
