CU Women's Basketball Preview - at St. Lawrence (1/3)

When the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team won two out of three against St. Lawrence in 2015-16, it marked the first time in more than 20 years that the Golden Knights could say they had beaten the Saints. The Green and Gold will be looking to make the results of 2016 a habit rather than a SLU hiccup when the two teams meet on Tuesday to kick off 2017.

The Golden Knights enter the game with a record of 5-4 overall, having won their final game of 2016. St. Lawrence comes in at 3-6 with a record of 1-1 in the Liberty League after splitting a pair of conference games in the final weekend of the year.

The regular-season meetings between the two teams in 2015-16 could not have been more different. In the first game, Clarkson dominated defensively, forcing the Saints to turn the ball over 25 times and allowing only a 1-for-17 performance from the 3-point line by St. Lawrence. Game two was an entirely different situation for the Saints, as the tea went 11-for-26 from distance and reduced their turnovers to 18.

Clarkson will be looking to force turnovers again with its full-court pressure which has opponents committing 20.9 miscues per game, gaining an advantage of 5.89 turnovers per contest so far. St. Lawrence is at the other end of the spectrum, giving up the ball 23.1 times per game for a disadvantage of 9.33 turnovers per game.

For the third straight year, Clarkson is heavily reliant upon its starters, though more Golden Knights come in to spell the first five more so than the past two years. Devin Sorell leads the team with 11.2 points per game while Stephanie Grobe isn't far behind at 11.0 points per contest. Madison Shea is also adding in 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while ranking second in the league in assists (4.0 apg) and first in steals (3.3 spg). Clarkson has received the least free throws in the conference this year, getting just 110 attempts from the line in nine games (12.2 per game).

St. Lawrence's success could hinge upon two players that average less than six points per game this year. Ranking fifth and sixth on the team in scoring at 5.8 points and 5.1 points per game, respectively, Jenny Scudder and Kaelyn Kohlasch were the big threats for St. Lawrence against Clarkson in 2016. In Clarkson's two wins, the pair combined for just 12 points, but in St. Lawrence's lone victory, the duo tossed in a combined 38 points. New addition Meghan Hynes leads the team in scoring (10.8 ppg) and is the top performer in the conference at the free throw line, making 81.5% of her shots. Caroline Dalton (8.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg), Cara Waterson (7.2 ppg) and Shayna Davner (7.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg) have each had their moments for the Saints this year as well, with Davner averaging 12.3 ppg over her last three contests.

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Players Mentioned

#21 Stephanie Grobe: G; 5' 10"; Senior

#10 Madison Shea: G; 5' 6"; Junior

#24 Devin Sorell: G; 5' 3"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#21 Stephanie Grobe
: 5' 10"; Senior
: G

#10 Madison Shea
: 5' 6"; Junior
: G

#24 Devin Sorell
: 5' 3"; Junior
: G

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

#21 Stephanie Grobe

#10 Madison Shea

#24 Devin Sorell

Players Mentioned

#21 Stephanie Grobe

#10 Madison Shea

#24 Devin Sorell