Erie, Pa. – The Le Moyne College women's basketball team traveled to Mercyhurst and rounded out the 2025-26 regular season against the Lakers on Thursday night. The Dolphins fell, 72-66, finishing with an 11-20 season record and a 9-9 mark in conference play.
Freshman guard Peyton Dincher (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Jersey Shore) led the Dolphins in scoring with 14 points on 5-8 shooting overall and a team-best four three-pointers. Junior forward Ashley Buragas (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / John Jay / Mineral Area College) followed with 13 points on 5-12 shooting from the field and a 3-4 mark from the line while bringing in a team-high 12 rebounds to register her second consecutive double-double.
Senior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y. / Albertus Magnus) also finished with double-digit points, tallying 12 on 4-8 shooting including three buckets from deep.
Junior guard Jessica Wangolo (Ottawa, O.N. / Capital Courts Academy / Buffalo) dished out a team-best four assists while Buragas registered three steals for Le Moyne.
Le Moyne shot 24-51 (47.1%) from the field, 7-17 (41.2%) from three-point range, and 11-14 (78.6%) from the line against the Lakers. The Dolphins recorded 30 points in the paint and 34 points off the bench in the loss.
Cici Hernandez (19), Jenna Van Schaik (17), Erica Hall (11), and Lena Walz (10) all finished with double-digit points for the Lakers while Sofia Wilson led with seven rebounds and Van Schaik tallied four assists.
Mercyhurst opened the game with a pair of free throws from Walz before junior guard Sydney Postell (Churchville, N.Y. / Churchville-Chili) cracked the scoreboard for the 'Phins with a basket at the free-throw line, as well, two minutes into the first quarter.
Following a nearly three-minute dry spell from both teams offensively, Le Moyne closed out the opening frame on a 7-2 run over the final 2:21 highlighted by a three from Dincher to retake the lead, 12-8.
The Dolphins added the first pair of buckets of the second quarter on jumpers from Linnin and freshman forward Rachel Lynch (Cork, Ireland / Putnam Science Academy (Conn.)) to extend their lead to eight points. Buragas added a last minute jumper before Walz connected on a three-pointer with four seconds remaining in the half to send the Lakers to the break down by two, 25-23.
The Lakers went on a 7-2 run to kick off the third quarter and take the lead, before extending their advantage to eight points, 46-38, on a layup by Hall at the 2:40 mark.
A three-pointer followed by a four-point play out of the hands of Linnin in the span of a minute late in the quarter lessened Le Moyne's deficit to three points before Van Schaik added a free throw with six seconds remaining to put Mercyhurst ahead 51-47 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Early buckets from redshirt sophomore guard Amya McLeod (Rome, N.Y. / Rome Free Academy / Youngstown State) and freshman guard Kayden Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Manasquan) in the fourth brought the 'Phins within two points of the host Lakers before Mercyhurst re-extended their lead to six, 57-51, just over two minutes into the frame.
Both teams went the next two-plus minutes without scoring before Buragas connected on a layup at 5:33. Late threes from Dincher and Linnin closed the gap for Le Moyne but Mercyhurst pulled away with free throws in the final minute to finish out the 72-66 victory.
What's Next:
#5 Le Moyne will travel to #4 Wagner for the first round of the NEC Tournament at a time TBD on Monday, Mar. 9.
