CU Women's Basketball Preview - at Nazareth/D'Youville (12/29-30)

By: December 27, 2018

Women's Basketball | 12/27/2018 4:15:00 PM

Although practices began the day after Christmas, the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team will not have much time to get back into game shape as the Golden Knights travel this weekend to take on Nazareth College and D'Youville College in a pair of non-league games.

Live Stats/Live Video at Nazareth
Live Stats/Live Video at D'Youville

The Series: It has been a dozen years since Clarkson and Nazareth faced one another as the teams ended a three-year run of competition in the 2006-07 season, a streak that all concluded in victories for the Golden Flyers. Nazareth has won six straight, with Clarkson's last victory coming in 1992-93. The Green and Gold have won all three meetings against D'Youville, but like the Nazareth series, the two squads have not met in a decade. Clarkson is 3-0 against the Spartans, including a 90-76 victory in the last outing that occurred during the 2008-09 season.

Key Stats for Clarkson (3-4): For the first four games of the year, sophomore Carly Assimon led the Golden Knights in scoring, but in the last four (with one game included in the first four) Clarkson has seen four different players top the team in points (Assimon, Hannah Earl, Molly Stewart, and Rachel Marion). Stewart leads the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game, reaching double figures six times in seven contests, while Assimon is averaging 12.7 points per contest, scoring 13 points or more in six games. Marion scored more than half of her season's total (22 points) in the Knights' last game against Cazenovia, shooting 5-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Key Stats for Nazareth (4-4): After winning the first three games of the year, Nazareth has dropped four of its last five contests. Some of the Golden Flyers' success comes from their work on the offensive glass, where the team gains 15 offensive rebounds per game while limiting opponents to just 9.4 second chances. Rachel Benedict leads the team in several categories, including scoring (14.8 ppg), rebounding (9.6 rpg) and steals (2.5 spg). Jadyn Abrams is shooting 88.2% from the free throw line (30-for-34) and is second on the team in points with 13.3 per contest. Isabella Gjonaj is shooting 60.0% from the floor for 5.4 points per game, but her main contributions come in the ways of rebounding (8.4 rpg) and defense (1.5 blocks per game).

Key Stats for D'Youville (4-4): Freshman guard Danielle Hore scored 20 points or more in her first two games for the Spartans, but her scoring has dropped in the last six contests (20.5 ppg first two games, 13.5 ppg last six games). However, Hore contributes in plenty of other ways, producing 12.0 points, 15.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in her last two contests, while nearly securing a triple-double (15-14-8) against Morrisville State in mid-November. Senior forward Darian Evans is second on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game, and her best games are when she gets to the free throw line (8.0 ppg with no free throws attempted, 16.5 ppg with at least one free throw attempted). She is shooting 94.1% from the line (16-for-17) so far this season.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Carly Assimon: G; 5' 5"; Sophomore

#20 Hannah Earl: G/F; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#24 Rachel Marion: G/F; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#1 Molly Stewart: G; 5' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#11 Carly Assimon
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: G

#20 Hannah Earl
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: G/F

#24 Rachel Marion
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: G/F

#1 Molly Stewart
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G