La Plume, P.A. - Emma Chambers netted a career-high 15 points on 5-8 shooting leading the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team to a 67-49 victory over Cedar Crest College on day one of the Keystone College Tip-Off Tournament, Friday evening.
Clarkson gains their first win of the 2025-26 season, drawing level at 1-1 while handing Cedar Crest their first loss, dropping the Falcons to 3-1. The Knights are back in action on Saturday, taking on hosts Keystone College at 3 p.m.
The Knights raced out to an early 7-0 advantage as Bella Doyle connected on two mid-range jumpers and Emma Chambers found the target on a wing three pointer forcing Cedar Crest to take an early timeout just two minutes in. A layup on the next possession out of the break from Fallon Griffin was followed by another wing three from Chambers as the Clarkson lead grew to 12-0 before the Falcons finally broke their scoreless drought on a free throw with five and a half remaining in the first. The Falcons would go on to score five straight buckets on driving layups, cutting the Clarkson lead to 14-12 in two minutes. Griffin would finally put an end to the run with a left corner trifecta that put the Knights up 17-12 headed into the second.
Clarkson would open up the second with a 4-0 run as Chambers would hit two free throws and Addie Kea got to the rim with a driving effort, opening up a 21-12 lead. The teams would trade baskets through as the second quarter continued, as some cold shooting from both sides saw just five combined efforts fall over a five minute stretch. The Falcons would get within six with 2:21 remaining when Analyse Rios muscled her way to the cup for a contested layup. The basket by Rios would account for the final scoring of the first half with Clarkson up 25-19 after 20 minutes of action.
Cedar Crest would cut the lead to just three less than a minute into the second half with a jumper and free throw from Samora Merchant. Over the next two minutes Clarkson would counter with a 6-0 run with a three pointer and mid-range jumper from Chambers to get the lead back to 31-22. A fastbreak lay-in by Griffin gave the Knights their first double-digit lead since the second quarter, leading 33-22 with 5:53 remaining in the third. The lead would grow to 15 when Alexi Kress got to the basket for another layup but Cedar Crest would return the favor on the next possession pushing the deficit back to 37-24. The lead would soon grow back up to 16 for the Knights as Maddy Polky would go 2-2 at the line after being fouled on a shot, putting Clarkson up 41-25 before Kate Campbell notched her third jumper of the game to send Clarkson into the fourth up 43-25.
Chambers wasted no time in sending the lead to 20 just 30 seconds in on a midrange jumper, sparking a 10-3 run for the Knights as the lead would grow to 53-28 with 7:30 remaining. The Falcons responded with an 8-0 run of their own up to the 5:26 mark cutting back into the lead. 14 would be the closest that the Falcons would get over the remainder of the quarter as the Knights did just enough to break late full-court pressure and connect on quality looks to earn the 67-49 final.
Clarkson led most statistical categories as a team including bench points (24-7), rebounds (49-42), points in the paint (34-30) and points off turnovers (28-21). The Knights never trailed in the contest with the largest lead being 25. Chambers (15), Doyle (13) and Campbell (10) all scored in double figures for the Knights while Griffin led the rebounding efforts with 12 total. Doyle and Griffin both tallied four assists, with the team totaling 17 overall. Rios led the Falcons with a game-high 21 points while Merchant added a 10 point, 14 rebound performance in the loss.
