PACE FALLS TO LE MOYNE 67-51

 
SYRACUSE, NY- The Pace University women's basketball team dropped a tough 67-51 Northeast-10 Conference battle against the Dolphins of Le Moyne College on Wednesday night  at Ted Grant Court.

The loss drops the Setters to 12-8 on the season and 9-7 in the Northeast-10. The win improves the Dolphins to 12-10 on the year and 9-8 in conference play.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball early as the score was only 12-8, in favor of the Dolphins, with 12 minutes remaining in the first half. The Setters had trouble finding their groove on the offensive end of the floor as they only shot 29 percent from the field in the first half, while also committing 10 turnovers. Le Moyne capitalized on Pace's offensive troubles by going on a 9-3 run to make the score 21-11 with 9:14 left to go in the half. Pace cut the lead down to eight at halftime to make the score 32-24 going into the locker room. Pace stayed relatively close in the first half thanks to the play of Brittany Shields (Cold Springs, NY/Haldane) who had four point, four rebounds and two assists. A key stat in the first half was points in the paint where Pace was being doubled up in that category by Le Moyne 12-6.

Le Moyne came out in the second half looking to put the game away as they started the half on an 11-4 run to make the score 43-28 with 13:26 remaining. Pace got as close as 10 at 43-33 after a three-point play by Maral Javadifar (Flushing, NY/The Mary Louis Academy) (Flushing, NY/The Mary Louis Academy) with 12:34 left in the game. Le Moyne would break the game open after that though scoring the next seven points to push the lead up to 17 with 10:17 left in the second half. The lead would get all the way up to 19 as Pace couldn't solve the Dolphin offense in the second half. The Setters made a late run as time was winding down to cut the lead down as they would go on to lose by 16.

Pace finished the game shooting 32 percent from the field, and 26 percent from three. Le Moyne shot 45 percent from the field, and 35 percent from beyond the arc. Pace was outrebounded in the game 33-31. Le Moyne also had a big advantage on point off turnovers leading the category 17-11.

Pace was led by Shields who finished with eight points, and six rebounds. Laura Mooney (Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa) (Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa) had five points, five rebounds and two steals in a losing effort.

Pace is back in action on Sunday, February 8 as they return home to take on conference foe Saint Michaels. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.