Potsdam, NY – A 21-1 run early in the second half turned out to be the difference for Potsdam State Tuesday evening as the Clarkson University Women’s Basketball team fell to the Bears 71-51 at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights saw a three-game winning streak come to an end with the loss, dropping to 3-2, while Potsdam improved to 4-1. Clarkson will travel to the Albany College of Pharmacy this Sunday.

The first half began with a rash of turnovers as the two teams combined for 11 in the first four-plus minutes, and as expected, few points came in that time frame. Eventually, Potsdam drove to the basket with more regularity and figured out that it could get on the scoreboard with free throws. That strategy proved to work well as the Bears shot 13-for-16 from the free throw line, in addition to making a handful of layups.

Neither team shot well in the opening 20 minutes, as Clarkson was just 6-for-25 (24.0%) and Potsdam was 8-for-30 (26.7%), including no conversions from beyond the 3-point line.  Freshman Morgan Carella (Roslyn Heights, NY) scored eight points to lead the Knights and classmate Carey Turner (Clifton Park, NY) added five points and five rebounds. For Potsdam, Kelsey Shoen led the Bears with eight points and four rebounds and Molly Krauza came off the bench to add seven.

Though Clarkson scored the first basket of the second half to pull within seven, Potsdam went on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes, making several intermediate jumpers and easy lay ins. The run continued to roll out to a 21-1 push after the Knights’ opening basket of the half. Though the re-emergence of Michelle Reddinger (Baldwinsville, NY) allowed the Knights to go on a run of their own with several quick lay ups, Reddinger fouled out and ended the Knights’ hopes of a comeback after Potsdam responded in turn with a series of close shots to extend their lead back to 20 points.

Cortney Poirier led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 7-for-16 from the field, and added four assists and four steals. Maureen Curley contributed 14 points and eight rebounds and Molly Krauza finished with 10 points.

Turner ended up with a team-high 12 points and seven rebounds for Clarkson, while Reddinger had 11 points and Carella closed with 10 points.