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Top 10 Clarkson Highlights - #6 Golden Knights Women's Basketball Returns to Liberty League Championship Game

The Top 10 Clarkson University Athletic Department Highlights of 2016-17 were carefully selected by the Clarkson Sports Information Staff. Top 10 Clarkson highlights will be posted on Mondays throughout the summer.

Minus the graduated Co-Liberty League Player of the Year, expectations for the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team were still reasonably high entering the 2016-17 season. However, after three straight convincing losses to teams from the NESCAC, along with a significant injury to starting forward Alyssia Marsal during that stretch of games, the Golden Knights chances at even returning to the conference tournament took a hit thanks to a conference deep with talent.


Even with Marsal's quicker than expected return in mid-January, it took the Knights some time to reconnect following a 3-4 start in league play. Following a narrow loss at home to William Smith, Clarkson rebounded with a three-point win against RIT on January 21, beginning a 7-2 run in conference games that pushed the Knights to their third straight conference tournament appearance.

Not satisfied with just making the tournament, Clarkson upended top-seeded Skidmore in the Liberty League semifinals, a team that had swept them during the regular season, including a 10-point loss just three days earlier. Back in the championship game for the second straight year against RIT, Clarkson was unable to pull off the repeat at conference champions, but the Knights proved that their collection of talent could beat any team in the region on any given day.

Mirroring the team's slow start, junior guard Devin Sorell struggled with some shooting woes at the start of the season, but she averaged 19.8 points per game over the final 11 contests, including a pair of 30-point games. Her biggest performance of the season came against Vassar when she tossed in career-high 34 points on 9-for-20 shooting from the field and a 15-for-16 stretch from the line. Her 13th point of the game allowed her to reach quadruple digits for her collegiate career, becoming just the fourth junior to reach 1000 points (and only the seventh in Clarkson Women's Basketball history, overall). She was selected a Liberty League First-Team All-Star for her efforts, and senior Stephanie Grobe likewise earned conference honors. Grobe was chosen as the Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season and also gained Liberty League Honorable Mention honors.

The three members of the senior class, including Grobe, Marsal, and Kathleen Coloney, each had their moments in 2016-17 and will be sorely missed for the upcoming season, but Sorell, classmate Madison Shea and rising sophomore Molly Stewart will be a solid core for 2017-18 as the Knights look to make a fourth consecutive trip to the postseason. Shea led the conference in steals per game also averaged double figures in scoring thanks to an 83.6% success rate from the free throw line, and Stewart was a unanimous selection the Liberty League All-Rookie team after leading the team with a 46.4% field goal percentage.

Top 10 Clarkson Athletic Department Highlights for 2016-17





 
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Players Mentioned

Kathleen Coloney

#32 Kathleen Coloney

F
6' 0"
Senior
Stephanie Grobe

#21 Stephanie Grobe

G
5' 10"
Senior
Alyssia Marsal

#22 Alyssia Marsal

F
5' 10"
Senior
Madison Shea

#10 Madison Shea

G
5' 6"
Junior
Devin Sorell

#24 Devin Sorell

G
5' 3"
Junior
Molly Stewart

#11 Molly Stewart

G
5' 9"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Kathleen Coloney

#32 Kathleen Coloney

6' 0"
Senior
F
Stephanie Grobe

#21 Stephanie Grobe

5' 10"
Senior
G
Alyssia Marsal

#22 Alyssia Marsal

5' 10"
Senior
F
Madison Shea

#10 Madison Shea

5' 6"
Junior
G
Devin Sorell

#24 Devin Sorell

5' 3"
Junior
G
Molly Stewart

#11 Molly Stewart

5' 9"
Freshman
G