PLATTSBURGH, NY – The Plattsburgh State women's basketball team won a thriller on opening night in the Memorial Hall Gymnasium, as the team defeated the visiting Clarkson Golden Knights. First-year guard Kortney McCarthy (Peru, NY/Peru) had the game-winning shot for the Cards, as she knocked down a turnaround jumper with 22 seconds to give Plattsburgh the lead for good. The first-year had only three field goals made in her first college game, but her third bucket proved to be an important one, giving the Cards a win. 

Bri Brousseau (Peru, NY/Peru) was the night's leading scorer as she had 16 points off the bench and also added 11 rebounds for a double-double. Payton Couture (Redford, NY/Saranac) had 12 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while senior guard Mya Smith (Wappingers Falls, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) added 12 points as well to go with five boards and four assists. 

For the Golden Knights, Cassidy Dumont, LaurynWithrow, and Raelin Burns each finished with 11 points in the season-opening loss. 

The Cardinals shot 37.5% from the floor on the night and were strong defensively, holding Clarkson to 30.9% shooting from the floor and just 27.3% shooting from three-point territory. Plattsburgh got 26 points from their bench and 40 points in the paint for large advantages over Clarkson in the same categories, as Brousseau was largely to blame for those points, providing a huge boost to the offense. 

Each team played their first game of the year on Tuesday night, as Plattsburgh rises to 1-0 and Clarkson falls to 0-1. 

The first quarter saw the Cards jump out to an early eight-point lead, as a 7-0 run allowed the team to jump out to a 15-7 lead over Clarkson. However, as they would continue to do throughout the game when faced with deficits, the Golden Knights would climb back to cut the Cardinal lead to four at the end of the first quarter. Late in the second quarter, Plattsburgh took their biggest lead of the game to that point, as Couture knocked down a three-pointer off a pass from McCarthy. Over the final 1:41 seconds of game time, Clarkson was able to hold the Cards scoreless, however, cutting the Plattsburgh lead back down to six, going into halftime down 31-25. 

While the Golden Knights pushed to within a single possession to end the third quarter, the story of the period was Brousseau, who had 10 of her 18 points in the third. With the three-ball finally falling for Clarkson, Brousseau used her significant height advantage to get possession in the paint and finish over the top of her defender through the quarter. 

A quick 7-0 run for the Cardinals pushed their lead to nine once more, as Izzy Wilbur (Red Creek, NY/Red Creek) knocked down a three to open the fourth quarter, Brousseau made a layup, and Jaden Wilson (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown) got her miss back in the cup for a two of her own. Leading at 58-49 with well over six minutes left in action after another Brousseau lay-in, the Plattsburgh offense went cold, as Clarkson rattled off a 10-0 run. The run was capped off by a jumper by Dumont to give her team a 59-58 lead. Without any hesitation, the offense inbounded the ball and ran through a set, with the ball eventually finding its way to McCarthy who made the clutch shot as the Cards retook the lead. Plattsburgh was able to force two misses over the final 22 seconds, with a potential game-winning three just missing at the buzzer to give the team a 61-59 win.

Wilbur knocked down two threes for Plattsburgh State in the win, as Kathy Peterson-Ross (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest) contributed seven rebounds and five points toward the winning cause.