CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland overcame an eight-point halftime deficit and defeated visiting Clarkson, 69-59, in a non-league contest. Junior Molly Byrne (Syracuse/Bishop Ludden) led the Red Dragons (7-1) with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. She made 2-of-4 three-pointers and grabbed five rebounds. Junior Brittany Cohen (Fayetteville/Jamesville-DeWitt) finished with 14 points and junior Micki Volpini (Newfield) added 12 points and three assists.

In addition for Cortland, senior Jen Polan (Westhampton Beach) recorded 10 points, three assists and three steals. Senior Jennifer Patten (Bainbridge/Bainbridge-Guilford) had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds and junior Caryn Crary (Skaneateles) led the teame with five steals.

Clarkson (3-6) also finished with four double-figure scorers, led by senior Lauren Pluchino's (Liverpool) 14 points. She made 4-of-7 three pointers as part of an 11-of-24 effort by the Golden Knights from behind the arc. Senior Katie Goldberg (Stowe, VT) hit 3-of-8 treys and scored 11 points.

Junior Chrissy Scanlon (Queensbury/Lake George) and sophomore Stacey Garcia (St. Albans, VT/BFA St. Albans) scored 10 points each. Scanlon and junior Courtney Green (Rochester/Nazareth Academy) led Clarkson with five rebounds each and Garcia recorded four steals.

Clarkson led 25-17 on a Sierra Noles (Averill Park) jumper with 4:12 left in the first half. Cortland scored the next eight points, including four Jen Collis (Tully) free throws, and tied the game at 25-25 with 1:54 left, but the guests used a Scanlon jumper and two Goldberg three-pointers to take a 33-25 halftime advantage.

Patten hit two three-pointers to open the second half to cut the Clarkson lead to two, but the Golden Knights still held a 39-33 lead after a Scanlon layup with 14:57 remaining. The Red Dragons outscored Clarkson 26-8 over the next eight-plus minutes and led 59-47 with 6:26 left. Cohen scored seven points and Volpini and Polan tallied six points apiece during that surge.

The Cortland lead grew to as much as 16 points at 65-49 with 2:59 left. Clarkson, however, scored the next 10 points, capped by three-pointers from Morgan Carella (Roslyn Heights/Roslyn) and Noles, and was within six with 40 seconds left. Polan hit four straight foul shots to finish the scoring.

Cortland will host Oswego in a SUNYAC matchup on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 6 p.m.