Potsdam, N.Y. - A six-point second quarter proved too much to overcome for the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team Saturday afternoon, as the team dropped a 68-53 decision to visiting RIT.
The Golden Knights close out the weekend at 7-9 overall, 3-5 in the Liberty League and will return to action Tuesday, January 27th at Alumni Gymnasium against St. Lawrence University. RIT improves to 11-6 overall and 8-2 in league play.
Each team traded baskets over the opening portion of the contest. A pair of layups from Maddy Polky and Fallon Griffin gave the Knights an early four point advantage but two Erin DiPaola free throws resulted in a 10-9 lead for Clarkson before the first media break. Hannah Durand would come out of the timeout connecting on a long range attempt to give the Tigers a two point lead with 4:30 remaining. A pair of free throws from Bella Doyle brought the Knights back level at 12, the closest the scoreboard would read in the rest of the contest. A short 6-0 burst from RIT in the final two minutes would be answered by two consecutive Addie Kea layins to cut the visitors lead to 19-17 after one.
The second quarter would be all RIT as the Tigers would jump out to an 11-0 pushing the scoreline gap to 30-17. Polky eventually managed to get the Knights in the scoring column with 3:16 remaining off a mid range jumper but two more baskets from Kea and Griffin were cancelled out by scores from RIT who would enter halftime up 36-23.
Early in the second half of play, Doyle brought the Knights back to within 12 off the back of a trifecta less than a minute in but the visitors would continue to keep their foot on the gas as the lead would grow back up to 20, 49-29, with 3:31 left in the third. A free throw from Kate Campbell and another Doyle three brought the deficit back to 16 but a jumper and three from Maddy Ramsgard and Sydney Pearson made it 54-35, RIT with one quarter left to play.
The Tigers continued to shoot well from the field in the final stanza thanks to smooth mid-range looks and key three-pointers. The visitor's lead grew to 24 on two occasions in the final 10 minutes of play before an 11-2 run over the last four minutes brought Clarkson back to within 15 for the 68-53 final.
RIT would hold an advantage in most statistical categories while shooting 48% (25-52) from the field and a scorching 58% (11-19) from three. Clarkson managed 26 points in the paint to RIT's 18, despite shooting just 30% and 33% from the field through the second and third quarters.
Griffin, Kea and Doyle led the Knights with 14, 14 and 10 points, respectively. Polky grabbed a team-high five rebounds to supplement her six points. RIT was led by Caroline Henderson with 14 points and Ramsgard with 13 points. Hannah Durand dished out five assists as part of a 17 assist outing from the Tigers.
