CU Women's Basketball Preview - at Ithaca/Union (2/9-10)

A lot of things would need to go right for the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team to squeak into the Liberty League playoffs, but the Golden Knights can take solace in the fact that they played very well the first time around against this weekend's opponents (Ithaca and Union) and could still very well make a move upward in the league standings.

Live Stats/Live Video – at Ithaca College
Live Stats/Live Video – at Union College

The Series vs. Ithaca: In the first meeting against the Bombers, Clarkson came up just short in a 79-77 defeat at Alumni Gym, with Devin Sorell netting 30 points. Ithaca is ahead in the all-time series 13-7.

The Series vs. Union: The Golden Knights shut Union down in mid-January, nearly doubling up the Dutchwomen 76-39. Five Clarkson players finished in double figures, including Hannah Earl's best game of the season in which she produced 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Key Stats for Clarkson (8-12, 3-10 Liberty League): Clarkson's starting guard tandem of Devin Sorell and Madison Shea are looking to close out their careers with some personal milestones. Sorell needs just nine more 3-pointers to hit 200 for her career, which would make her only the third player in Clarkson Men's or Women's history to reach that milestone. She also requires just 58 more points to hit 1500 for her career, becoming the fourth in Golden Knights' women's history to ascend that high. Shea requires 83 more points to hit quadruple digits for her career, but her all-around play is more memorable. She ranks in the top five in school history in both assists and steals in addition to her scoring prowess.

Key Stats for Ithaca (15-6, 10-4 Liberty League): The Bombers are still vying for a first-round bye in the league playoffs and possibly the top spot overall after a win against RIT on Tuesday. Ithaca's constant defensive pressure gets results as the Bombers have a +9.24 turnover margin with a league best 13.43 steals per game, 70 more than any other team in the conference. Cassidy O'Malley leads the team in scoring at 17.7 points per game, though the sophomore has been somewhat inconsistent her past four outings with point totals of 23, 9, 19, and 5. Julie Yacovoni is just a few makes shy of qualifying for the leaderboard in field goal percentage, where she would rank first at 52.6%.

Key Stats for Union (7-13, 4-10 Liberty League): The Dutchwomen struggled mightily against Clarkson the first time around, shooting just 3-for-18 in the second half with all of their makes coming, surprisingly, from beyond the 3-point arc. Union is averaging 47.7 points per game (ninth in the conference), but its issues generally are not entirely from shooting. Union ranks last in the conference in turnover margin, coughing up the ball 5.35 more times than its opponents. Those extra possessions have proven costly, especially in conference games, where the turnover deficit rises to a margin of negative 7.07, nearly twice that of Bard's -3.64 (ninth in the league).

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Players Mentioned

#10 Madison Shea: G; 5' 6"; Senior

#3 Devin Sorell: G; 5' 3"; Senior

#20 Hannah Earl: G/F; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#10 Madison Shea
: 5' 6"; Senior
: G

#3 Devin Sorell
: 5' 3"; Senior
: G

#20 Hannah Earl
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: G/F

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

#10 Madison Shea

#3 Devin Sorell

#20 Hannah Earl

Players Mentioned

#10 Madison Shea

#3 Devin Sorell

#20 Hannah Earl