Saints Handle Golden Knights, 73-62
by:
Tara FreemanSophomore Casey Capello led the Saints with 26 points against Clarkson Tuesday.
Jan. 19: The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team dropped North Country Rival Clarkson University, 73-62 Tuesday night in the Alumni Gymnasium in Potsdam, NY.
The Saints improve to a 9-4, 1-2 mark, while the Golden Knights fall to a 3-10, 0-3 overall record.
Sophomore Casey Capello led the Saints with a team high 26 points, shooting 9-of-15 from the field, and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, while junior captain Abby Stanton trailed with 22 points, off 8-of-14 shooting. Sophomore Elisabeth Dwyer earned a team high seven rebounds, as senior Brittany Parham led the Scarlet and Brown with a team high five assists. Sophomore Katherine Edgerton racked up 11 points, shooting 3-of-10 from the floor, and picked up five rebounds and a game high four steals.
Clarkson's Michelle Reddinger led the Golden Knights with a game high 39 points, shooting 16-of-21 from the field and ten rebounds. Teammates' Carey Turner and Lauren Pluchino earned six rebounds a piece, while Turner also grabbed a team high five assists.
The Scarlet and Brown kicked off the first half of the game with a solid 11-2 run, sparked by a combined layup and free-throw by sophomore Katherine Edgerton. Just over five minutes into the frame, the Saints led by eleven points with a score of 16-5. Sophomore Casey Capello was on fire from beyond the arc, sinking 2-of-2 three pointers to help the Saints increase their advantage. The Golden Knights started to work their way back, as Reddinger chipped one off the glass to spark a 5-0 run for her team, cutting the deficit to seven with 11:33 on the clock. However, a three from Capello and a nice jumper from Stanton put the Saints back on top by eleven points with a score of 25-14. With 3:12 left in the half, St. Lawrence increased their advantage to 15 points after Stanton nailed consecutive jump shots. Capello followed suit, and hit one from the charity stripe to give her team their largest lead of the frame, with an 18 point advantage. Clarkson was able to bring themselves within 15 points of the Scarlet and Brown to end the half with a score of 41-26.
The Saints continued to rush the basket in the second stanza, and played particularly strong defensively. Roughly four minutes into the closing half, the Saints led by 19 points as Capello sunk another three pointer, followed by an easy jumper from rookie Erica Spera. However, the Golden Knights grabbed momentum as Reddinger tipped one in from underneath to fuel an 8-0 run for her team. Clarkson was able to cut the deficit to 12 with 8:31 left in regulation. The Scarlet and Brown were able to increase their advantage back to a 15 point lead, but Clarkson hung on, coming within ten points of the Saints after Reddinger hit a pair of layups. The Golden Knights tried to make a move with roughly a minute left to play, but the Saints were able to push ahead by 14 points as both Santoni and Edgerton hit back-to-back free throws. With 11 seconds to play, Clarkson's Stacey Garcia sunk a three to put her team within striking distance as the score read 72-61, but the Saints calmly secured the 73-62 victory as sophomore Alyssa Brown made a pair of free throws.
"It was a really nice win for us after this past weekend," St. Lawrence Head Coach Dan Roiger said. "I was really happy with the way we shot the ball, and we played great defense. In fact, the game was almost decided in the first five minutes. It was a great game by Abby [Stanton] in first half, shooting nice shots and playing great defense, while Casey Capello and Elisabeth [Dwyer] did a great job shooting the threes. Although Reddinger went off on us, our goal was to hold off Plucino, Goldberg, and Noles, and we accomplished that. I'm happy with the team effort. We played hard and we played together.
St. Lawrence scored 22 points off turnovers, while Clarkson earned 15. The Golden Knights proved the depth of their team Tuesday, by racking up 51 bench points, compared to the Saints five.
St. Lawrence heads on the road this weekend to take on Union on Friday, January 22 in Schenectady, NY. Tip-off is set for 6:00 pm.