Skip To Main Content

Scoreboard

Clarkson University Athletics

GrobeStephanie2016action

Women's Basketball February 25, 2016

CU Women's Hoops Preview - vs. RIT (Liberty League Finals, 2/27)

Women's Basketball February 25, 2016

CU Women's Hoops Preview - vs. RIT (Liberty League Finals, 2/27)

A first-time Liberty League champion will be crowned on Saturday afternoon when the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team hosts the Rochester Institute of Technology in the conference finals at 2:00 pm in the Alumni Gymnasium.

The top-seeded Golden Knights enter the game with a record of 21-5 overall and have won 16 of their last 17 contests, including a 63-54 win over fourth-seeded St. Lawrence on Wednesday. Second-seeded RIT escaped with a 68-64 victory over third-seeded Union on Wednesday as well, improving to 20-6. The Golden Knights have reached the playoffs two straight seasons, but those are the only two playoff appearances for Clarkson in the past decade since the renaming of the league in 2004-05, while RIT is also in its second trip to the conference tournament since joining the league back in 2011-12. The Liberty League hasn't been awarded an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament since 2008 when William Smith garnered an extra look by the committee, so Saturday's game could very well be a winner-takes-all event. Clarkson reached the NCAA Tournament back in 1989, the program's only trip, while RIT has yet to advance to the tournament.

In the first two meetings between the two teams, Clarkson came away with wins in both games, but each time trailed in the second half despite an average margin of victory of 10+ points. The opening game was at Potsdam and Clarkson raced out to an early double-digit lead and was up by as many as 16 in the second quarter. However, RIT gained its first lead of the game in the fourth quarter and led by four with just three minutes to play. The Golden Knights came away with the win, though, as the squad put forth one of its now patented late runs, scoring the final 10 points of the game for a 74-65 win. The second game saw RIT jump out early, but Clarkson ended the third quarter with a 15-2 run and held on in the fourth quarter for a 63-51 win.

Ashley Loggins has produced two double-doubles against RIT this year, a familiar stat line since she is averaging 16.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game to go along with a league-best 4.2 steals per game. Devin Sorell is averaging 17 ppg against the Tigers in 2015-16, a tick above her 15.2 ppg production. Clarkson is allowing just 56.7 points this season, mostly due to the team forcing 23 turnovers per contest and gaining 13.2 steals per game. In fact, of the 14 players in the Liberty League this season with 35 or more steals, five are on the Clarkson roster.

The Tigers lead the league in offense with 69.8 ppg and the team turns the ball over just 15.1 times per game, the lowest figure in the conference, though RIT has turned the ball over 41 times in in two games against Clarkson. Jessica Glaz is one of the top shooters in the league, averaging 16.7 ppg (fourth in Liberty League) with 63 3-pointers (second, trailing only Sorell's 65 makes) and a conference-best 87.1% from the free throw line. Freshman Tara Lynch is a strong contender for conference Rookie of the Year, averaging 14.9 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 51.3% from the floor.

 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Ashley Loggins

#11 Ashley Loggins

F
5' 10"
Senior
Devin Sorell

#24 Devin Sorell

G
5' 3"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Ashley Loggins

#11 Ashley Loggins

5' 10"
Senior
F
Devin Sorell

#24 Devin Sorell

5' 3"
Sophomore
G