Potsdam, NY – Vanessa Westcott (Parish, NY) scored a game-high 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting, but her performance wasn’t enough as the Clarkson University Women’s Basketball team dropped a 47-40 decision to Union College in Liberty League action Friday night at Alumni Gymnasium.
The Golden Knights fell to 5-12 on the season and 1-5 in conference action, while Union improved to 9-7 overall and 5-1 in the Liberty League. Clarkson faces Skidmore on Saturday while the Dutchwomen travel to take on St. Lawrence.
In the opening minutes of the first half, Union produced a 9-0 run to take a 13-4 lead through the first six minutes of the half and appeared ready to run away with the contest. However, Clarkson’s defense buckled down and held the Dutchwomen without a field goal for the next 11 minutes and produced a 13-1 run of their own over a nine minute stretch to take a 19-14 lead. Union closed the gap with a pair of lay ups in the final moments of the half, making it 19-18 at intermission.
With a flurry of traveling calls and offensive fouls, the Dutchwomen turned the ball over 19 times in the first half. Fortunately for Union, their suffocating press forced the Golden Knights into 15 turnovers as well. Neither team shot well in the opening half, as Clarkson was just 8-for-23 from the floor (34.8%) and Union went 7-for-26 (26.9%). Union did own an impressive advantage on the boards, coming through with 10 offensive rebounds and 24 total, while holding Clarkson to just 11 total boards.
In the second half, Clarkson pulled away to a six-point lead, but saw that advantage evaporate as Union began to take the ball inside and avoid turnovers. The Dutchwomen ran off a 12-2 run from 9:04 to 2:52 in the second half to take a seven-point lead. Though Clarkson would close the gap to four, it would remain a two-possession game for the final three minutes.
Michelle Rogers scored a team-high 12 points, shooting 6-for-7 from the floor, and added six rebounds off the bench for Union. Krystal Hammond scored just five points, but grabbed 10 rebounds as the Dutchwomen held an overwhelming 46-28 edge in rebounds.
Rachel Whitermore (Holliston, MA) scored seven points for Clarkson.
