CU Women's Basketball Preview - at Williams Tournament (12/2-3)

With all due respect to the Liberty League slate in January and February, the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team will see its stiffest competition of the season this weekend when the Golden Knights take on Williams College and Tufts University at the Williams College Tournament.

The Golden Knights enter the game with a record of 4-1 thanks to three straight victories. Clarkson will face host Williams (4-1) at 6:00 pm on Friday and will then take on top-ranked Tufts University (4-0) at 1:00 pm on Saturday.

For the first time in 2016, the Golden Knights received a solid effort on both sides of the ball against SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday, and the team hopes to take that momentum into the weekend. Clarkson gets solid contributions from each of its five starters. Junior Madison Shea does the most damage on the stat sheet, averaging 9.2 points, 5.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game, while senior Alyssia Marsal also contributed strong across the board with 7.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.6 steals per contest. Junior Devin Sorell leads the team in scoring at 13.0 ppg and also distributes the ball at 2.8 assists per game. Senior Stephanie Grobe is shooting 48.1% from the floor and averaging 12.2 points and 4.2 boards per game, while freshman Molly Stewart is making half of her shots and averaging 8.8 points per game.

Williams is scoring just 54.8 points per game so far in 2016-17, but the Ephs allow fewer than 50 points per contest. The Ephs are also allowing opponents to shoot just 29.6% from the field and only 24.7% from beyond the 3-point line. Seniors Lauren McCall and Devon Caveney are doing the most damage on offense, with McCall scoring a team-best 10.8 points per game to go along with 7.2 boards per contest and Caveney contributing 9.8 points and 3.2 assists per game. Junior Kristin Fechtelkotter also averages 7.6 and 7.0 rebounds per game, while freshman Emily Chang has found a role as a shooter from the perimeter, scoring 9.8 points per game in just 21.8 minutes per contest thanks to a team-best 13 3-point field goals.

Tufts advanced all the way to the NCAA Division III National Title game in 2015-16, and the Jumbos are off to a strong start at 4-0, receiving the top ranking in the latest national polls. The Jumbos have plenty of depth with 11 players averaging at least eight minutes of court time per game (with no player averaging more than 28 minutes), and that balance has kept opponents struggling on offense, averaging only 42.3 points per game and just 28.3% shooting from the field. Junior Melissa Baptista averages 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in just 21.3 minutes per game, while classmate Lauren Dillon kicks in 8.5 points per contest. Senior Michela North contributes 7.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, and sophomore Jacqueline Knapp averages 7.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest.

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Players Mentioned

#21 Stephanie Grobe: G; 5' 10"; Senior

#22 Alyssia Marsal: F; 5' 10"; Senior

#10 Madison Shea: G; 5' 6"; Junior

#24 Devin Sorell: G; 5' 3"; Junior

#11 Molly Stewart: G; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#21 Stephanie Grobe
: 5' 10"; Senior
: G

#22 Alyssia Marsal
: 5' 10"; Senior
: F

#10 Madison Shea
: 5' 6"; Junior
: G

#24 Devin Sorell
: 5' 3"; Junior
: G

#11 Molly Stewart
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: G