POTSDAM, NY – The Plattsburgh State women's basketball team wins season opener against the Clarkson Golden Knights for the second year in a row.
Imani Walcott (Albany, N.Y. / Albany) was the night's leading scorer as she had 17 points and added six rebounds which she led the team in both. Jaden Wilson (Johnstown, N.Y. / Johnstown) had 14 points, three rebounds, while Payton Couture (Redford, N.Y. Saranac) added in 11 points and six rebounds.
For the Golden Knights, Bella Doyle led with 17 points and there were contributions from Cassidy Dumont with 15 points and Raelin Burns with 14 points.
The Cardinals shot 41.3% from the floor on the night and were strong defensively only committing 13 fouls and holding Clarkson to 37.7% shooting from the floor and just 29.2% shooting from beyond the arc. Plattsburgh got 30 points from their bench which was the difference as Plattsburgh's bench outscored Clarkson's 30-10 in large part to first year players Julia Greek (Long Island, N.Y. / Ward Melville) and Selma Diesz (Bekkestua, Norway / Nadderud VGS) who respectively had 13 points and 10 points both contributing from the bench.
Each team played their first game of the year on Wednesday night, as Plattsburgh moves to 1-0 and Clarkson falls to 0-1.
The first quarter saw a competitive battle as the Cardinals scored the first two buckets with a layup from Walcott and Wilson. The Golden Knights would respond with a three from Bella Doyle making the 4-3 with eight minutes left in the quarter. The Golden Knights would take their first lead on a layup from Raelin Burns to make the score 9-11. There were multiple lead changes as the game was going back and forth in the 1st quarter. At the end of the 1st the Cardinals had the lead 21-17. One minute into the second quarter the Cardinals would extend their lead to 10 with three pointers from Wilson and Greek. Two minutes into the second quarter, Plattsburgh took their biggest lead (21) of the game to that point. For the rest of the second period, Clarkson was able to hold the Cards scoreless and cutting the Plattsburgh led to 16, going into halftime down 40-24.
The Golden Knights were able to cut the Cardinal led to seven midway through the third quarter. The hero of period for the Golden Knights was Doyle as she notched 8 points, four rebounds, and 1 steal to help cut into the deficit her team was facing. To end the third quarter the Cardinals would get a three from Greek to end the period with a 13-point lead.
A quick score for the Golden Knights and response by the Cardinals pushed their lead to 14, as Elizabeth Aiossa made a layup and Deisz knocked down a three to open the fourth quarter. Leading at 62-48 with over six minutes left in action, the Cardinal offense went cold, as the Golden Knights went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to nine. The run was capped off by a layup from Aiossa. The Cardinals would end their cold streak with a layup from Greek. Nine would be the lowest the lead would get as the Cardinals and Golden Knights would trade a few buckets back and forth making the score 70-60. The rest of the Cardinal points would come from the free-throw line as the Golden Knights would foul and hope for misses to get back in the game.
Greek and Wilson both knocked down two threes for Plattsburgh State in the win, as Walcott and Peterson-Ross contributed six rebounds each to help led to the win.
Plattsburgh State is back in action against St. Lawrence University Tuesday Nov. 14th at 5:30 pm.