Rochester, NY – Despite a furious comeback in which the team scored more points in both the third and fourth quarters than it did in the entire first half, the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team couldn't pull off the repeat as conference champions, falling to RIT 85-72 in the Liberty League Championship game Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights saw their season come to an end with a record of 16-11 overall, while RIT improved to 19-8 on the season, winning its first conference title to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Saturday's game came down to shooting as RIT shot 52.8% from the floor (28-for-53) while the Knights' rate was just 34.1% (28-for-82). Clarkson's 29 extra field goal attempts came by 22 offensive rebounds and a 17-8 turnover advantage. However, the Tigers' 12 3-pointers in the game provided enough cushion in the final tally.

RIT rattled off seven straight points to open the first quarter before Clarkson was able to convert, but the Golden Knights wouldn't let the game get away from them despite the Tigers' hot start. RIT made nine of its first 12 shots in the game and four 3-pointers in the first quarter, but only found itself up by four (19-15) with 3:35 remaining. However, another 7-0 run to end the quarter by RIT changed the momentum.

Clarkson was down by 11 points at the 7:33 mark after a Kathleen Coloney jumper made it 28-17. From that point on, however, the Tigers continued to pour it on offensively, making four more 3-pointers in the second quarter and ending the frame on a 19-4 run for a 26-point lead (47-21). The Tigers shot 18-for-34 (52.9%) in the first half against Clarkson's 8-for-36 (22.2%), and RIT also made eight 3-pointers versus the Knights' two from beyond the arc. Three players were in double figures at the break for RIT, led by Jessica Glaz's 15 points (5-for-7 shooting, four 3-pointers).

The Knights easily could have folded at the half facing such a daunting deficit, but that wasn't the case. RIT scored the first basket of the half to move their advantage to a game-high 28, but Clarkson followed with a 17-2 run, capped off by a Molly Stewart 3-pointer at the 3:51 mark to make the score 52-38. That was as close as Clarkson would get in the quarter until the waning seconds of the third. Down by 17 in the final minute, Coloney made a layup and Clarkson regained possession thanks to another RIT turnover. The Knights made the most of the opportunity as Stephanie Grobe made a basket at the buzzer to pull the Knights within 13 (61-48).

In the fourth quarter, RIT held off Clarkson's third-quarter charge by making shots from the perimeter, but a misguided technical foul at the 6:54 mark allowed the Knights to make a quick charge thanks to a pair of free throws from Devin Sorell and a layup by Molly Stewart. That twisted the momentum back into Clarkson's favor and the Knights pulled to within single digits two minutes later when Alyssia Marsal converted at the 4:53 mark to make it 71-62. Another free throw from Sorell brought Clarkson within eight, but the Knights stalled on offense, going more than two and a half minutes without a point while RIT found more of a cushion with free throws. Finally, Sorell made a pair of 3-pointers to get Clarkson going again, but by then the deficit was too much to overcome as RIT converted its free throws down the stretch (12-for-14 in the final 3:15) to clinch the win.

Senior forward Kathleen Coloney scored a career-high 18 points, shooting 8-for-17 from the floor, to go along with seven rebounds to lead the Golden Knights. Junior Devin Sorell added 16 points and six rebounds, but shot just 5-for-23 overall and 2-for-14 from beyond the arc thanks to some quick pulls when the Knights were trailing late. Freshman Molly Stewart added 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting and senior Stephanie Grobe had a solid all-around game with 13 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Junior Madison Shea also had six points, six rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

For RIT, Jessica Glaz came within a point of her collegiate-high by pouring in 27 points on 8-for-12 shooting, which included a 6-for-7 performance from beyond the arc. She also came within a rebound of a double-double, something that Taylor Burns did accomplish with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Cori Okada also added 21 points and eight assists on offense, while Tara Lynch tossed in 10 points and nine boards for the Tigers.