Staten Island, N.Y. – The #5 Le Moyne College women's basketball team traveled to #4 Wagner and opened the NEC Tournament on the road on Monday night. The Dolphins came away with a 54-47 victory to reach the semifinal round of their conference tournament for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.
Sophomore guard Eli Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Ocean Township) led all players with 15 points in the win, shooting 5-9 from the field including a 2-3 mark from three-point range to go along with three points from the free-throw line in 34 minutes on the hardwood.
Junior forward Sydney Postell (Churchville, N.Y. / Churchville-Chili) added nine points including with the game-winning three-point shot in the final minute of the game, matching the scoring total of freshman guard Kayden Clark (Oakhurst, N.J. / Manasquan).
Junior guard Jessica Wangolo (Ottawa, O.N. / Capital Courts Academy / Buffalo) added eight points to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds, a mark she shared with junior forward Ashley Buragas (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / John Jay / Mineral Area College). Buragas led the team with three assists against the Seahawks.
Le Moyne shot 17-53 (32.1%) from the field, 5-15 (33.3%) from three-point range, and 15-18 (83.3%) from the line. The Dolphins recorded 18 points in the paint, 15 second-chance points, 13 points off the bench, and 12 points off turnovers on Monday.
Irene Fernandez de Caleya (13) and Lijirin Doyinsola Modesayor (10) led Wagner in scoring on a combined 8-21 shooting overall and a 6-14 rate from the charity stripe. Doyinsola Modesayor brought in a team-high seven rebounds while Keana Fox dished out a game-high five assists.
E. Clark opened the scoring in the first quarter for Le Moyne on a three-pointer at the top of the arc after an offensive rebound brought in by Buragas. Neither team scored for over four minutes until freshman forward Praise Matthews (Red Lion, Pa. / Dallastown) connected on a turn-around jumper midway through the frame.
After taking a 7-3 lead on a jumper by K. Clark, the Seahawks tied the score with 2:51 left in the frame and eventually took the lead, 10-9, on a three out of the hands of Klea Kaci. Wagner extended their advantage to 13-11 by the end of the first 10 minutes of play.
Senior guard Sierra Linnin (Valley Cottage, N.Y. / Albertus Magnus) pulled the Dolphins back within one point, 17-16, on a three-pointer early in the second quarter before the Seahawks went on a 7-1 run on three buckets from the field and a free throw over the next three minutes.
Layups from Wangolo and E. Clark, along with free-throws from Postell and Linnin, gave Le Moyne their own run of eight consecutive points to reclaim the 25-24 lead with less than a minute remaining in the first half.
A three-pointer with four seconds left out of the hands of Fernandez de Caleya reclaimed the lead for Wagner and they went to the break up 27-25.
Early buckets from Wangolo and Postell pulled the Dolphins ahead early in the third frame as the two teams traded the lead through the first five minutes. Le Moyne took the lead once again on a three out of the hands of E. Clark with 5:07 left and later extended their lead to five points, 41-36 on back-to-back shots from K. Clark.
The 'Phins finished out the third quarter outscoring Wagner, 18-9, and headed the final 10 minutes of play up 43-36.
The team extended their lead to nine points, 47-38, on a layup from Postell two minutes into the fourth quarter before Wagner went on an 8-0 streak to close the gap to one point on a free-throw from Doyinsola Modesayor with 1:13 to play.
A three-pointer from Postell proved to be the game-winning dagger for Le Moyne with 45 seconds remaining as the #5 Dolphins closed out the game with shots from Wangolo and Linnin and won, 54-47, in the opening round of the NEC Tournament.
What's Next:
Le Moyne will travel to #1 FDU for the semifinal round of the NEC Tournament at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 12. The Dolphins and Knights are the only two members of the NEC to reach the semifinal round of the conference tournament in each of the past three seasons.
