Saratoga Springs, NY – When the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team won the Liberty League Championship last year, it came as the one-seed, the first time since 2006 that the conference's regular-season champion won the tournament title as well. The Golden Knights will remain the only team to do so in the past decade as fourth-seeded Clarkson topped Skidmore College, 75-63, in the Liberty League Semifinals Wednesday night.

The Golden Knights saw five players finish in double figures and led from late in the first quarter through the remainder of the contest. Clarkson improved to 16-10 overall and will travel to Rochester to face RIT (the Tigers beat William Smith 62-45 in Geneva, NY) in the Liberty League Championship game on Saturday, a rematch of last year's title tilt. Skidmore saw its season end at 17-9. Clarkson had lost the two regular-season meetings (60-46, 67-57) before winning the third game of the series in 2016-17.

Neither team produced much in the way of offense in the early moments, as it took Skidmore three minutes to score and the Golden Knights another 76 seconds on top of that to finally convert. The Thoroughbreds enjoyed a modest 7-2 advantage through the first seven minutes, but Skidmore went cold and Clarkson found enough offense to take advantage, rolling off eight straight points to end the quarter and another four to start the second period for a 12-0 run. Skidmore's near five-minute drought without any points finally ended on a Kelly Donnelly jumper, but Skidmore was never able to completely halt the Knights. Clarkson saw its lead trimmed to a single point (22-21) with under three minutes to go in the half, but the Knights nailed their next three 3-point attempts to regain a seven-point advantage. Madison Shea pushed the lead back to four with the first 3-pointer and Molly Stewart followed with a pair of 3-pointers in the last 100 seconds, giving Clarkson a 33-26 lead at the break.

Both teams shot much better in the second quarter, but each was still well below 40% in the half. Clarkson had huge deficits in regards to foul shots and rebounds in the first two games, but the Knights matched Skidmore's 4-for-5 effort from the line in the first half as they kept their fouls in check, while the shortage in rebounds was limited to just five (24-19). The Knights continued to put pressure on Skidmore, forcing the Thoroughbreds into 12 turnovers in the first half, and Clarkson committed just six turnovers of its own. Molly Stewart was 4-for-5 in the first half for 10 points in just 12 minutes for the Knights, while Madison Shea produced seven points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Alyssia Marsal also chipped in five rebounds, three assists and three steals for Clarkson as well. Kelly Donnelly and Veronica Moceri did the majority of the damage for Skidmore, combining for 24 points, with neither ever leaving the floor in the first half.

The third started with two quick baskets from Clarkson, as Devin Sorell drove into the lane and each time found open shooters on the wings to give the Knights a double-digit advantage (37-26). Two more baskets from Madison Shea increased the Clarkson lead to 41-26 before Skidmore finally unlocked the basket with a free throw from Kelly Donnelly at the 6:03 mark. Though the Thoroughbreds did break a 5:48-drought from the field midway through the quarter, it was Skidmore's sudden advantage in free throws that kept things close. Only seven of the Thoroughbreds 13 shots from the free throw line went in, but several of those allowed Skidmore to pull within single digits. However, just as things appeared to be going Skidmore's way, Kati Gotch made a one-handed 3-pointer with the shot clock dwindling late in the third quarter to return the Knights to a nine-point advantage.

Clarkson scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter to regain a 13-point lead, but the two teams alternated baskets for the next four minutes as little changed in the margin. With less than four minutes to go the banality ended with Clarkson extending its lead to 15, then 17 points (66-49) as Devin Sorell began making jumpers and key free throws. However, Skidmore wasn't done, as both Madison Shea and Alyssia Marsal fouled out, which also helped the Thoroughbreds hit some free throws the margin back to single digits. At the other end, Clarkson was hitting just enough free throws to keep the Thoroughbreds at bay, usually making one of its two attempts. In the final minute Sorell hit five free throws and Kathleen Coloney added one more to clinch the win for the Knights.

Sorell finished with a team-high 22 points, shooting 16-for-19 from the free throw line to make up for a 3-for-10 performance from the floor, while also adding five assists. Shea chipped in 13 before fouling out and Stephanie Grobe added 13 while staying on the floor despite four fouls. Kathleen Coloney and Molly Stewart each added 11 points and Alyssia Marsal was strong on the glass with 12 rebounds.

For Skidmore, Kelly Donnelly produced a double-double with 29 points and 14 rebounds and Veronica Moceri scored 20 points, but needed 21 shots (7-for-21) to do so.