Potsdam, NY – Two freshmen produced double-doubles as the Clarkson University Women’s Basketball team utilized 24 offensive rebounds for numerous second chance points in a 65-43 victory over Cazenovia College Monday night at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights improved to 2-4 overall on the season with the victory, while Cazenovia fell to 0-7 on the season. Clarkson is off until the end of December when it travels to compete in the Bowdoin College Christmas Tournament.

Clarkson jumped out to a lead right away, causing a handful of turnovers and forcing some bad shots by the Wildcats, and never looked back. Also, Cazenovia was put into a tough position early on as the whistle was blown on numerous occasions on the perimeter and on shots near the block, putting Clarkson in the shooting bonus before the half was more than eight minutes old. Leighann Tomita (Cerritos, CA) used that to her advantage, getting to the line for eight free throws, which were all sunk by the sophomore point guard. Overall, Clarkson shot 14-for-16 from the free throw line and made 12 of its 29 attempts from the field.

Tomita had eight points in the first half and also contributed five assists, several of which were awarded on baskets from the first half’s game-high scorer Isabella Esposito (Essex, VT). Esposito had 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting and also grabbed seven rebounds. For Cazenovia, Megan McDermott scored a team-high eight points while adding in five boards.

In the second half, the Golden Knights needed to dominate the offensive boards because the team struggled from the field, shooting just 9-for-41 from the floor. Fortunately for Clarkson, Cazenovia was only a tick better than it had been in the first half and equaled Clarkson’s output with nine makes but in 14 fewer attempts.

Esposito finished with a double-double, producing 17 points and 11 boards for the Golden Knights, while classmate Ashley Loggins (Albany, NY) did the same with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Brooke Butkovsky (Monroe, CT) also came within a pair of rebounds of a double-double, but she still had a solid all-around game in just 18 minutes, scoring 11 points to go along with eight rebounds, four blocks and four steals. Colleen Daley (Orchard Park, NY) also chipped in four blocks.

For Cazenovia, Megan McDermott posted game-highs with 18 points and 13 rebounds, also chipping in two blocks and two steals. No other player for the Wildcats had more than five points, though Erin O’Malley also has 12 rebounds in the contest.