St. Lawrence University women's basketball seniors Kara McDuffee and Allison Cady helped the Saints to a 62-49 victory over Clarkson University on Tuesday evening in the Burkman Gymnasium. Both seniors recorded double-doubles and combined for 39 points and 26 rebounds in the win against their North Country rivals.

McDuffee matched her season-high with 25 points thanks to a 13-of-15 mark at the free throw line, while Cady had a career-high 12 rebounds to keep St. Lawrence in second place in the league standings with an 8-1 mark (13-4 overall). Meanwhile, Clarkson falls to 12-5 (5-3) as the team shot just 25% (20-of-80) from the floor including 11% from behind the arc (2-of-18). Devin Sorell and Cara Manfredi combined for 21 points, but shot just 8-of-37 from the field.

"What a great game by our two seniors. They both stepped up for us; Allie with her defense of an excellent scorer and Kara with her constant help," said St. Lawrence head coach Dan Roiger. "This is exactly what you hope your seniors do this time of year and we will need them the rest of the way."

St. Lawrence, which will be without 2014 Liberty League Rookie of the Year Caroline Dalton for the rest of the season after an injury last weekend at Vassar, was able to overcome 26 turnovers thanks to 16 assists and a 55-45 advantage in rebounds. McDuffee, who had a team-high 14 boards, finished just four assists shy of a triple-double.

The game was defined by several runs, as the Saints jumped out to a 9-0 lead only to see their opponents rebound with an 11-2 effort to tie the score at 11-11. After St. Lawrence reclaimed a nine point edge at 25-16 thanks a three from McDuffee, a jumper by Cara Waterson and free throws by Jenny Scudder, Clarkson again answered with a 9-0 run of its own to tie the score at 25-25 with 1:41 left in the half. Lauren Quattrocchi hit a key three to put the Saints back on top, and a lay-up by Cady in the final seconds allowed the home team to take a 30-27 lead into intermission.

Despite falling behind by 12 early in the second half, the Golden Knights refused to go away and got back to within four (45-41) midway through the period after a tip-in by Manfredi and solid free throw shooting by Sorell and Katelyn Curtis. Clarkson had two shots to get even closer, but a missed three by Sorell and a lay-up by Manfredi allowed St. Lawrence to start extending the advantage with Cady and McDuffee scoring for a 49-41 edge with 5:01 left.

Clarkson had no answer to McDuffee down the stretch, as the senior was 11-for-11 at one point from the free throw stripe and the Saints defense would not allow Clarkson easy looks. The Knights scored just eight points in the final 9:45 as St. Lawrence closed out the 62-49 win comfortably.

"Clarkson is a very good offensive team and they can score in a hurry and put up a lot of points. I was really impressed by our defense today as the team executed the game plan to near perfection and really locked down in the last 10 minutes on the boards," added Coach Roiger. "It was an outstanding effort to hold them to less than 50 points, nearly 25 below their average. The team was focused and locked in today, and that is how we have to be if we want to be a top team in our league and region."

The Saints, winners of eight straight Liberty League games, will host William Smith this Friday, January 30 at 6:00pm. Clarkson, which remains in third place in the conference despite the loss, will host RIT.