Potsdam, NY – Despite 14 points from freshman Katie Goldberg (Stowe, VT), including nine on three 3-pointers early in the second half, the Clarkson University Women’s Basketball team suffered its fourth loss of the season in a 76-44 defeat at the hands of Potsdam State at Maxcy Hall.

The Golden Knights dropped to 0-4 overall while the Bears improved to 2-1. Clarkson returns to action on Saturday when they host Albany College of Pharmacy at 2:00 pm.

In the opening half, Potsdam immediately asserted itself offensively, shooting well from the perimeter and taking advantage of its offensive rebounds. Clarkson enjoyed open looks from the paint as well, but had trouble converting its shots from inside. Keeping Clarkson in the game were numerous free throw opportunities, but the Knights couldn’t put much of a dent into the Bears double-digit lead despite Potsdam’s foul trouble, making just nine of their 16 shots from the line.

Cortney Poirier scored a team-high 13 points for the Bears in the first half as the team shot 17-for-32 from the floor (53.1%). Meanwhile, the Golden Knights struggled from the floor, shooting just 5-for-18 from the field. Junior Rachel Whitermore (Holliston, MA) and Goldberg each scored five points in the opening 20 minutes to lead the Knights.

The second half didn’t produced much better results for the Knights as Potsdam continued to get good looks, this time coming inside. Though Clarkson played even for the first few minutes of the half, the Bears extended their lead into the 30s and finished with a 32-point edge.

Goldberg shot 5-for-8 for the floor for a team-high 14 points while DeAndra Hebert (Heuvelton, NY) contributed 10 points on 5-for-10 shooting. The rest of the team combined to go just 4-for-27 from the field.

Poirier finished with a game-high 18 points for the Bears and both Kelsey Shoen and Rachel Graf contributed 10 points for Potsdam. The Bears owned a 37-26 advantage in rebounds and shot 55.9 percent (33-for-59 from the field) for the game.