Potsdam, N.Y. - A late comeback attempt would fall just short as the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team dropped their season opener to SUNY Canton, 74-63, at Alumni Gymnasium.
The Knights move to 0-1 on the season and will travel to La Plume, Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday to take on Cedar Crest College and Keystone College in the Keystone Tip-Off Tournament.
Both teams got out to a fast start as threes from Bella Doyle and Fallon Griffin would help to tie the game at 7 apiece following a jumper by Canton's Abigail Rice at the 7:35 mark. Both teams continued to trade buckets until the Roos fashioned an 11-3 run from the five minute mark with 1:15 remaining in the quarter to go up eight. A jumper from Riley Cullen cut that lead to 20-14 before a layup by Emma Perez pushed the lead back to eight with less than a minute on the clock. A free throw from both teams would cancel each other out as Canton ended the first quarter up 23-15.
Opening the second with a three from Natalie Bush would give the visitors their first double-digit advantage of the evening, a lead that would grow to 12 following a Kat McRobbie-Taru fastbreak lay-in just under two minutes in. Clarkson continued to chip away, getting the lead down to six after Kate Campbell connected on a jumper with 3:49 remaining and then down to five after Campbell would hit a three from the right wing at the 2:54 mark. McRobbie-Taru would score the final four points of the half to push the Canton lead back to 40-31 heading into the break.
Clarkson would continue to keep the score close as proceedings continued in the third, a three from Griffin just over three minutes in cut the lead to 44-39. The Roos would continue to respond however, going on a 7-0 stretch in just two minutes to push the lead back to 12 following a three from Sierra Pabo. Two layups in the paint by Bella Doyle in the final minute, one with the clock expiring meant Clarkson would go into the fourth down seven.
Griffin would open the scoring in the final quarter with two free throws at the 7:16 mark and would proceed to dish an assist to Alexis Kress for a wing three that cut the deficit to two with just over six minutes remaining. Two straight jumpers in the paint from Pabo would put the Roos back up six until Kate Campbell would dump in two straight close looks for the Knights to get them within three with four minutes left. Canton would then go on an 11-2 run up until the final minute mark, reinstating a 12 point advantage. Griffin connected for another three with 45 seconds to cut it to nine, but free throw shooting from the Roos after breaking the Knight's full-court pressure was a big factor, lifting the Roos to the 74-63 final.
Clarkson led the way in bench points (27-8) while Canton held an advantage in points of turnovers (18-3) and points in the paint (36-16). Griffin and Campbell led the Knights with 17 and 16 points, respectively, as Griffin would go 4-6 from three all while grabbing eight boards. Doyle collected nine rebounds of her own along with a team-high four assists. Addie Kea (4), Elizabeth Aiossa (3) and Maddy Polky (3) all contributed to Clarkson's 16 assists overall. Pabo led the way for the Roos with a game-high 28 points, while McRobbie-Taru and Hope Aniceto chipped in 17 and 14 points each.
