Poughkeepsie, NY – Clawing back into the game with a steady offense, the Clarkson University Women’s Basketball team seemed poised to make a run at Vassar College after digging a bit of a whole in the first half, but a seven-minute drought without a field goal ended the hope of an impressive comeback as the Golden Knights fell to the Brewers in Liberty League action 74-52.

The Golden Knights saw their modest two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 7-9 overall and 2-6 in conference games. Vassar improved to 10-7 and 4-4. Clarkson will begin a three-game home stand on Tuesday when it hosts St. Lawrence University.

After everything went right on Friday, the Golden Knights couldn’t seem to get out of their own way in the early going against Vassar and were never able to recover. Through the first 10 minutes, the Knights were just 1-for-11 from the field and had committed 13 turnovers, and suffered a 21-point deficit. Clarkson was able to get its second field goal on a Carey Turner (Clifton Park, NY) jumper and went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 14 points, but over the final six minutes of the contest, Vassar regained its 20-point edge and went into the intermission with a 43-23 advantage.

Freshman Raeanne Clabeaux (New Woodstock, NY) had 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting in the first half to lead all scorers. Vassar shot 51.5 percent (17-for-33) from the floor in the first half, while Clarkson struggled at 7-for-29 (24.1 percent). The Brewers also nailed five 3-point field goals.

In the second half, it took over three minutes for Clarkson to get a basket, but that paled in comparison to Vassar, which went scoreless all together for over six minutes. That stretch allowed the Knights to get back into the game with four unanswered baskets that made the score 43-31. Though Vassar finally found its stroke, the Knights wouldn’t go away, and came back within eight points, 52-44 at the 6:44 mark. Unfortunately, Carey Turner’s basket at the 7:26 mark was the last field goal that Clarkson would record until a 3-pointer from Jovanna Snead (Poughkeepsie, NY) with just 23 seconds remaining in the contest. During that time frame, Vassar was able to take advantage, rebuilding its lead to over 20 points, with the margin settling at 22 at the final buzzer.

Clabeaux finished with 15 points to lead Clarkson, adding in five rebounds and six steals. Turner produced 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. For Vassar, Cydni Matsuoka had 16 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Nyah Berg had 13 points and Kristyn Tempora chipped in 12 points. Colleen O’Connell was a force on the interior with 10 points and a game-high 19 rebounds.