Potsdam, NY – Despite being tied at the half, the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team struggled in the second half from the floor, shooting 6-for-24 over the final 20 minutes, as the Golden Knights couldn't keep pace against SUNY Potsdam, suffering a 58-46 defeat on Tuesday evening at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights saw their mark fall to 2-3 on the season, while Potsdam improved to 4-1. Clarkson opens conference play this weekend when the team hits the road to take on Skidmore College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.   

Clarkson's offense was limited to just six offensive rebounds in the game as Potsdam controlled the boards with a 44-23 edge overall, including 37 defensive rebounds.

The Golden Knights started the game shooting solid from distance, making five 3-pointers in the first quarter on 38.5% shooting from the arc, and the team held a 17-13 lead through the opening quarter. Clarkson led by as many as seven on two occasions in the early going of the second quarter, but the Bears battled back to take the lead with a little less than three minutes remaining on a layup from Jakia Howard. A 3-pointer from Cassidy Dumont on one of the final possessions of the half allowed the Knights to tie the game at 28 at the break.

Clarkson was able to stay close in the third quarter despite its shooting woes with an active defense that created numerous turnovers. Potsdam took just nine shots from the field in the third period, but made five of them, with the remainder of the possessions resulting in turnovers. Unfortunately for the Knights, only one of those turnovers resulted in points at the other end.

After a pair of free throws from Raelin Burns in the first minute of the fourth, Clarkson trailed by just three (42-39), but the Knights went without a make until near the midway point of the period and saw the deficit increase to 12 in that time. That amount proved to be the final margin.

Cassidy Dumont led the Golden Knights with 16 points and also was active on the defensive end with five steals. Raelin Burns tossed in 11 points for the Knights.

For Potsdam, Jakia Howard was 9-for-16 from the floor for a game-high 19 points while also adding in 13 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Carley Hill and Jenna Cotter also added 15 points, with Cotter contributing eight rebounds and four blocked shots.