CU Women's Basketball Preview - at Skidmore (1/19)

Women's Basketball 1/18/2016 12:40:00 PM January 18, 2016

CU Women's Basketball Preview - at Skidmore (1/19)

With five straight wins in the Liberty League, the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team will be looking to make it six as the Golden Knights reach the midway point of the conference schedule Tuesday night when they travel to take on Skidmore College.

No other team has played as many conference games this year thanks to the unbalanced schedule introduced a few years ago, putting the Golden Knights in a position to hit the halfway mark in the league with a solid cushion in the standings. Clarkson enters the game with a record of 10-4 overall and 5-2 in the Liberty League, while Skidmore comes in at 8-6 overall and 3-3 in conference contests. Tuesday's tilt will be the 50th all-time meeting between the two teams with Skidmore coming away victorious 29 times, including two wins in three games last year.

Clarkson and Skidmore take different approaches to a similar style of play, with the Golden Knights leaning heavily on their starters. Six players in the Liberty League average 33 minutes or more per game, and four of those players come from the roster of Clarkson. In fact 80.03% of the team's minutes come from the starting five, and 89.04% of the team's points come from that group as well. Sophomore Devin Sorell is third in the conference in scoring with 16.2 points per game, leading the league with 38 3-pointers. Senior Ashley Loggins surpassed 1400 career points over the weekend and is plugging along with 15.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.0 steals per game, figures that each rank in the top four in the Liberty League. The other three starters, Stephanie Grobe, Madison Shea and Alyssia Marsal, have each set or tied their career-high in scoring in the past 10 days as well.

Conversely, the Thoroughbreds use a deep bench to provide points with more than 10 players averaging at least 13 minutes per game but only two spending more than 20 minutes per game on the court. Kelly Donnelly is the team's key player, averaging 14.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the floor. The sophomore guard has led the Thoroughbreds in scoring and rebounding in all but two of the team's 14 games this season. Amber Holgate (16.9 minutes per game) and Veronica Moceri (17.6 mpg) rank second and third, respectively, in scoring with each tallying about eight points per contest. Clarkson and Skidmore rank 1-2 in steals per game (13.07 spg - CU; 11.86 spg - Skidmore) and are also atop the league in turnover margin (+5.86 tpg - CU; +3.50 tpg - Skidmore).

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Players Mentioned

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

#11 Ashley Loggins: F; 5' 10"; Senior

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

#11 Ashley Loggins
: 5' 10"; Senior
: F

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

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

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