SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Freshman Jenna Zimmerman (Adams, N.Y.) scored 21 points and graduate student Corinne Poitevien (Bardonia, N.Y.) totaled 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Le Moyne College to a 70-48 victory over Daemen College here today in non-conference women's basketball action. Le Moyne, which is ranked ninth in the latest Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) East Region poll, ran its winning streak to four games and improved to 8-2 overall. Daemen dropped to 4-6 following its third-straight setback.
It marked the sixth time in the last seven games that Daemen's opponent was regionally-ranked by the D2SIDA. Today's game also marked the last of seven-straight road or neutral-site games for Daemen, which played nine of its first 10 games away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium.
Redshirt sophomore Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) paced the Wildcats with 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Junior Ranaveya Richards (Albany, N.Y.) added nine points in 22 minutes off the bench, while freshman Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) played a season-high 31 minutes and totaled five points and a season-high six rebounds.
Zimmerman, a 6-foot-2 forward who entered the game with just nine three-pointers on the season, went 5-of-8 from downtown today. Poitevien, a 6-foot-1 forward, connected on 8-of-12 shots and registered her fourth double-double of the season. Junior guard McKalyla Roberts (North Syracuse, N.Y.), who entered the game averaging a team-high 17.2 points for Le Moyne, added 12 points and eight assists.
Le Moyne scored on its first four possessions and later look an 18-6 lead following a put back by redshirt sophomore Liz Millea (Cooperstown, N.Y.) with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. Filbert, who scored Daemen's first 11 points in the game, answered with a three-pointer and a layup to cut the lead to 18-11. Le Moyne got a layup from Poitevien with 1:36 left before halftime, and neither team scored again until a put back by Richards made it 20-13 Le Moyne. The Dolphins came up empty on their next possession, and Richards drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to cut the Le Moyne lead to 20-16.
The game remained tight for the first seven minutes of the second quarter and Le Moyne held a 30-27 lead when Zimmerman drilled a three-pointer following a Daemen turnover. A layup by Roberts with 1:36 left made it an eight-point game, and the hosts regained a double-digit lead after freshman Erin Fouracre (Loudonville, N.Y.) grabbed the ball during a scramble following a Le Moyne missed shot and fed classmate Cameron Tooley (Clifton Park, N.Y.) who swished a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give the hosts a 38-27 halftime lead.
Daemen's scoring drought continued for the first five minutes of the third quarter, which allowed the Dolphins to build a 48-27 lead. Zimmerman's fifth three-pointer of the game with 2:31 left in the third quarter gave the hosts a 57-33 lead, and the Dolphins took a 59-35 lead into the final frame. Daemen came no closer than 20 points (65-45) over the final 10 minutes.
Daemen shot 34-percent (18-for-53) from the field overall and made a season-low two (2-14) three-pointers in the game. The Wildcats went 10-of-16 from the charity stripe. Le Moyne shot 44-percent (28-of-63) for the game overall and went 8-for-23 from downtown. The hosts made 6-of-9 free throws. The Dolphins finished with a 37-36 edge in total rebounds, and the hosts also posted an advantage in points off turnovers (12-5), second-chance points (15-14) and points in the paint (34-24). Daemen posted a 22-11 edge in bench scoring.
The Wildcats are idle until the first week of January when they close out the non-league portion of their schedule by hosting Saint Anselm College (Jan. 3) and Saint Michael's College (Jan. 5) of the Northeast-10.
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