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Clarkson University Athletics

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Women's Basketball December 31, 2015

CU Women's Basketball Preview - at Union/RPI (1/2-3)

It has been four weeks since the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team completed a tournament in Massachusetts, and though that ended in a loss the Golden Knights enter conference play with some momentum with wins in five of their first seven games in 2015-16.

The Golden Knights (5-2 overall) still have two non-league games in the middle of the conference's 16-game slate, but the Green and Gold will be focused on league foes this weekend when they travel to play Union College on Saturday and Rensselaer on Sunday. 

Few teams in the nation can say that they rely on their starters more than the Golden Knights as Clarkson gets 85.8% of its points from the first five. In fact, only 12 players in the Liberty League are averaging more than 30 minutes per game, but four of those 12 are on the Clarkson roster. Clarkson's defense and ability to take care of the ball have been keys thus far as the Knights are plus-three in turnover margin so far and lead the conference with 13 steals per game. Senior Ashley Loggins leads the Liberty League, and ranks third in the nation, in thefts with 4.7 steals per game and sophomore Madison Shea is third in the conference with 2.6 steals per game. Loggins is also contributing 13.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, logging five double-doubles so far, while Shea is shooting 53.5% from the field for 8.0 points per game. Clarkson's leading scorer so far this season has been Devin Sorell as the sophomore guard has ridden some hot-shooting games to produce 17.9 points per game. The figure is a little misleading so far, though, as Sorell produced more than half of her 125 points this year in just two games with a pair of 30-point efforts that saw her knock down 14 3-pointers. That said, Sorell still has averaged 12.0 points per game in her non-breakout contests, and is shooting 83.9% from the free throw line.

Clarkson split with Union (5-2) last year with a win at home and a loss on the road and the Knights are now 8-38 overall in the all-time series. The win for Clarkson last year against the Dutchwomen was the first since the 1999-2000 season. The Dutchwomen have yet to see a single player step forward as a go-to scorer, but their balance is enviable with four players averaging more than 10 points per contest, yet fewer than 11 points per game. Natalie Leone is the top scorer so far with 10.7 points per game to go along with 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.1 steals per contest. Jenni Barra is shooting 61.4% and averaging 10.3 points per game, while Abby Katz is producing 10.3 rebounds and 7.6 rebounds per contest. Amy Fisher also has tossed in 10.1 points per game to go along with 3.0 assists. Union has enjoyed solid defense and offense so far, allowing only 50.4 ppg (first in the league) with strong percentages on the offensive end (46.3% FG, 39.4% 3-FG). 

Rensselaer (4-5) and the Golden Knights also split the season series last year, and the Engineers also enjoy a solid advantage in the all-time series with 48 wins against just 18 losses. The Engineers have enjoyed an even larger margin in the recent era of the series with 37 wins in the last 39 games, though Clarkson has won twice in the last four seasons. The Engineers' offense ranks second in the conference in scoring at 68.3 ppg. led by Sam Krumbhaar's 12.3 points per game, a figure that is heavily reliant on her solid free throw shooting so far (39-for-50). Ashley Clough is also contributing 11.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, while Elizabeth Eckhardt is averaging 10.9 points and 3.9 rebounds coming off the bench. Eckhardt also ranks third in the Liberty League in 3-pointers with 16 makes. LaKissa Martin is also averaging 9.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while Shaina Iton ranks in the top 10 in the conference in rebounding (7.4 rpg, 9th) and blocks (1.6 bpg, 3rd).
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Players Mentioned

Ashley Loggins

#11 Ashley Loggins

F
5' 10"
Senior
Madison Shea

#10 Madison Shea

G
5' 6"
Sophomore
Devin Sorell

#24 Devin Sorell

G
5' 3"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Ashley Loggins

#11 Ashley Loggins

5' 10"
Senior
F
Madison Shea

#10 Madison Shea

5' 6"
Sophomore
G
Devin Sorell

#24 Devin Sorell

5' 3"
Sophomore
G