Potsdam, NY – A buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Ahnalese Pearson turned an impressive comeback for the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team into a heart-breaking loss as Rensselaer downed the Golden Knights 56-51 in Liberty League action Friday evening at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights fell to 4-20 overall and 2-15 in conference games while RPI moved to 9-15 and 6-11 in the Liberty League. Skidmore will face the Golden Knights in the regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon.

RPI rolled out to an early lead, only to see Clarkson make a steady comeback and get back within three at the end of the first quarter. In the second, RPI saw its advantage fall to one, but slowly expanded the margin to double figures on a Pearson 3-pointer and Tyler Hormazabal layup (25-15). RPI would lead by as many as 11 with two minutes to go, but the deficit was only seven at the end of the half.

The fourth quarter was close throughout, as the Knights were able to tie the game at 37-37 when Addie Kea buried a 3-pointer on Clarkson's first possession. The two teams then traded the lead a handful of times, though the Knights did hold a narrow advantage for much of the fourth. A layup from Cassidy Dumont near the midway point of the period saw Clarkson gain a five-point advantage, but two late makes from Pearson on a jumper just inside the line and another 3-pointer allowed RPI to regain the advantage at 51-49. With roughly a minute to go, Emma Chambers tied the game 51-51. Two free throws put RPI back up by two, and a Cassidy Dumont layup tied the contest at 53.

RPI took a shot with just under 10 seconds to go and a tie-up underneath the rim gave the Engineers the ball one more time with 7.1 seconds to go. On the inbound, the ball rotated around and got to the hands of Pearson on the left wing, and her 3-pointer was true as time expired to give RPI the win.

Cassidy Dumont finished with 18 points on 8-for-17 shooting while Bella Doyle was just short of a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds, while also dishing out four assists and making three steals. Raelin Burns also finished in double figures with 10 points.

For RPI, Ahnalese Pearson finished with a game-high 19 points, making five 3-pointers. Marley Mueller came off the bench to score nearly a point per minute, producing 16 points in 18 minutes on 6-for-10 shooting.