After suffering its first loss of the Liberty League season on Tuesday, the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team looks to regroup this weekend in the midst of a stretch of five road games when the Golden Knights take on Union College and Rensselaer.
The Golden Knighs fell to St. Lawrence (62-49) on Tuesday, and the Green and Gold will face Union on Friday and Rensselaer on Saturday.
The Dutchwomen have a strong record out of league play (7-1), but have lost all three conference match ups thus far having played some of the tougher competition in the conference. Union holds a 35-7 edge in the all-time series against Clarkson, with the Knights having last beaten the Dutchwomen in the 1999-2000 campaign. Amy Loya and Kate Thompson are the leading scorers for the Dutchwomen, with Loya averaging 10.5 points per game and Thompson scoring slightly less at 10.3 per contest. The duo also combine for over 10 rebounds per game. Kelsey McDonald ranks fourth on the team in scoring at 7.3 ppg, but her main role for the squad is as the team's main ball distributor, averaging 4.4 assists per contest. Union has struggled from the perimeter this year, shooting just 24.5% from beyond the 3-point arc.
Rensselaer has struggled out of the gate, but the Engineers have posted a win in league play so far, going 1-2 in the Liberty League and 3-9 overall. The Engineers have enjoyed success against the Knights over the years with 46 wins in 62 games, but Clarkson broke a losing streak less than two years ago when it posted a 57-56 victory against Rensselaer during the 2011-12 season. The Engineers' defense has been a problem so far, as they rank last in the conference in field-goal defense (42.0%). Ashley Clough is among the conference leader ins coring at 16.9 points per game and Amanda Lynch also scores 13.2 ppg.
Clarkson (6-4, 1-1) ranks second in the league in scoring defense (56.7 ppg) and will look to use that attribute in picking up a pair of wins. Junior Cara Manfredi (Glastonbury, CT) has scored in double figures in each of the 10 contests this season and ranks second in the league in scoring at 18.1 ppg. Sophomore Ashley Loggins (Albany, NY) ranks eighth in the league in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.1 rpg) and gained plenty of success against these foes last year. Though the second meeting didn't work out well for Loggins, she did score 25 points against the Dutchwomen in the first go-round, adding in 14 rebounds and seven steals as well. Loggins was more consistent against the Engineers, averaging 25.0 points and 16.0 rebounds per game, shooting just under 50 percent from the floor and going 13-for-15 from the line against RPI. Freshman Katelyn Curtis (Leicester, NY), a two-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week winner, has come on in the last three games of the year for the Knights, averaging 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in the stretch, all while shooting 60 percent from the floor (12-for-20).
