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Women's Basketball January 14, 2016

CU Women's Basketball Preview - vs. RIT/William Smith (1/15-16)

Women's Basketball January 14, 2016

CU Women's Basketball Preview - vs. RIT/William Smith (1/15-16)

With three straight wins in conference play, the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team hopes to continue its own winning streak while ending the unbeaten marks of its opponents this weekend when the Golden Knights take on RIT and William Smith at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights suffered a pair of losses in league play to open the season but have since improved to 8-4 overall and 3-2 in the Liberty League with victories over Bard, Vassar and St. Lawrence. Clarkson will look to knock off RIT from the ranks of conference unbeatens on Friday and will then take on another currently undefeated William Smith squad on Saturday.

The Green and Gold halted a 43-game losing streak to St. Lawrence on Tuesday with a decisive 64-41 victory over the Saints thanks to a career-high 21 points from Stephanie Grobe and an overwhelming defensive effort led by Ashley Loggins' eight steals, also her personal best. Loggins leads the Liberty League with 4.2 steals per game, helping the Golden Knights lead the conference in steals per contest (13.5 spg) overall, which includes 14.2 per league game. That defensive prowess has put the Golden Knights among the conference leaders in opponents' scoring average (55.9 ppg, second) and also has the team winning the turnover battle by an average of 5.33 per game. Offensively, Clarkson's starting five is producing 87.53% of the team's points while logging 78.67% of the minutes. Sophomore guard Devin Sorell ranks second in the league in scoring (15.5 ppg) and is first in 3-point field goal percentage (39.3%). Loggins is chipping in 14.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game while Grobe is producing 9.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Sophomore guard Madison Shea is averaging 8.3 points per game and shooting 53.2% from the floor and junior forward Alyssia Marsal is adding 6.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 47.0% from the field.

RIT (10-2, 3-0) owns the most efficient offense in the Liberty League, averaging 73.5 ppg (first), while shooting 42.6% from the field (second) and 32.7% from the 3-point line (first) with just 15.3 turnovers per game, the least in the conference. Three of the top four field-goal percentage qualifiers are on the Tigers roster, with sophomore Amanda Olsen leading the league at 60.2%, freshman Tara Lynch ranking third and 54.4% and Jessica Glaz placing fourth at 45.2%. All three players are also averaging better than 13 points per game, with Lynch ranking fourth in the conference at 15.4 points per game, Glaz in seventh with 14.4 ppg, and Olsen placing ninth so far with 13.3 ppg. Junior Julia Bender is also chipping in 8.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and freshman Cori Okada is scoring 8.3 ppg. Clarkson holds a 22-11 lead in the all-time series after sweeping the Tigers last year.

Clarkson swept William Smith in last year's games, but the Knights are still trailing in the time series by an overwhelming margin with 14 wins in 59 meetings. The Herons (4-6, 2-0) are last in 3-point field goal percentage in the Liberty League (24.7%) and are allowing opponents to shoot 39.0% from the floor, also last in the conference, but William Smith makes up for those shortcomings with a league-best 47.6 rebounds per game with a rebound margin of plus 9.7. Junior forward Gabrielle Eure is one of three players in the conference averaging a double-double with 11.8 points and 10.9 rebounds per contest and she also ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage at 59.8%. Freshman Mia Morrison has made an immediate impact by also nearly averaging a double-double at 12.4 points and 8.6 boards per game, and junior Melanie Patterson is tossing in 10.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assissts per game. 
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Players Mentioned

Stephanie Grobe

#21 Stephanie Grobe

G
5' 10"
Junior
Ashley Loggins

#11 Ashley Loggins

F
5' 10"
Senior
Alyssia Marsal

#22 Alyssia Marsal

F
5' 10"
Junior
Madison Shea

#10 Madison Shea

G
5' 6"
Sophomore
Devin Sorell

#24 Devin Sorell

G
5' 3"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Stephanie Grobe

#21 Stephanie Grobe

5' 10"
Junior
G
Ashley Loggins

#11 Ashley Loggins

5' 10"
Senior
F
Alyssia Marsal

#22 Alyssia Marsal

5' 10"
Junior
F
Madison Shea

#10 Madison Shea

5' 6"
Sophomore
G
Devin Sorell

#24 Devin Sorell

5' 3"
Sophomore
G