Strong Second Half Leads Saints Past Golden Knights

Box Score

Canton, NY – Utilizing a strong second-half shooting performance from both the 3-point arc and the interior, St. Lawrence sent the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team to its first loss in the Liberty League, a 62-49 defeat on Tuesday evening.

The Golden Knights fell to 6-4 overall and 1-1 in the Liberty League, while St. Lawrence remained unbeaten in conference games at 3-0, moving to 6-5 overall.

Both teams came out hot in the opening minutes, as each made two of their first three shots from the floor, but following those small streaks, neither team shot particularly well from the floor. St. Lawrence had the better of it, making seven of their 25 attempts from the field (28.0%) and Clarkson was just 6-for-29 (20.7%) for the remainder of the half. Clarkson held a modest one-point lead after a Stephanie Grobe (White River Junction, VT) basket at 12:42, but the Saints tied the score up with a free throw a minute late which began a 13-2 run over the next five minutes. St. Lawrence's defense stepped up its play while Clarkson struggled to get much going on offense, shooting 1-for-9 with four turnovers over the course of seven minutes. The Knights, however, did end the half with free throws, and went into the locker room trailing by nine (27-18).

Cara Manfredi (Glastonbury, CT) banked in a 3-pointer to start the scoring in the second half, cutting the St. Lawrence edge to six, but that would be as close as the Golden Knights would get. A Kelly Legg 3-pointer from the top of the key changed the momentum of the game midway through the half, as St. Lawrence started burying 3-pointers from all part of the court, making four long distance shots in the next few minutes to push the lead to as many as 21 points late in the half. The Saints were able to get key rebounds when they needed and make shots in the lane off their misses, never allowing Clarkson to get back into the contest.

Freshman Katelyn Curtis (Leicester, NY) scored a team-best 12 points, shooting 4-for-8 from the floor for the Golden Knights. Ashley Loggins (Albany, NY) and Cara Manfredi each chipped in 11 points for the Knights, with Manfredi also adding in seven boards.

St. Lawrence got nearly all of its points from its starting five, as Kara McDuffee had a game-high 18 points and Kelly Legg contributing 17 points. Cassie St. Hilaire added in 16 points, with 12 coming on her four 3-point field goals.

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