The Le Moyne College women’s basketball team, whose final Northeast-10 home game is against St. Francis at 2 p.m. Saturday, has done surprisingly well for its first season in a Division I conference.

The Dolphins are 10-13, going up against some very well-known schools such as the University of Southern California, Boston University, and Princeton University.

Head Coach Mary Grimes has taken a strong initiative this season, along with several assistant coaches including Joanna Dobrovosky, Katie Kolinski, Terence Mannion and Emma MacDonough.

Facing new teams in a new conference and everything in between, players and coaches have spoken to The Dolphin about the recent changes to DI and how it has impacted their season.

Grimes shared her thoughts, stating: “No matter the division the standard was the same. That mindset was what I instilled when I got the job, so we still do the same things we did before because & ‘basketball is basketball.'”

“Things are all ‘new.’ The gyms we go to most of the players (and me) have not been to before. So the competition has been similar because I believe we competed in a tough Division II conference but there are some other intricacies like playing at 7 p.m., and not having doubleheaders with our men’s team that have been different.”

A fifth-year player, Lytoya Baker, also shared her personal opinions about the current season: “A lot of people counted us out early because we were a DII team,” Baker states, “but now I feel like we earned a spot at the DI level.”

The team is currently in second place for the conference and “looking pretty good,” and Baker shares that she and her teammates have a good shot at winning the whole thing in the conference tournament.

The Dolphins are up next against Wagner College on the road tonight – Thursday, Feb. 29 – before coming home for Saturday’s game.