Ithaca, NY – Junior Molly Stewart scored 24 points, her third 20-point game in the second half of the season, but her effort was not enough for the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team as the Golden Knights dropped a 67-53 decision at Ithaca College Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights fell to 5-8 overall and 2-5 in the Liberty League, while the Bombers moved to 11-3 and 6-1. Clarkson heads to William Smith and RIT for another conference set next weekend.

The first quarter proved to be particularly sloppy as each team shot below 25 percent from the floor with nine turnovers apiece. Clarkson was able to exit the first period with a one-point lead thanks to a Molly Stewart 3-pointer with 18 seconds left. Ithaca reclaimed the advantage in the early going of the second quarter, but three more 3-pointers from Stewart pushed the Knights back ahead late in the quarter and Clarkson was able to maintain its one-point advantage at the half.

The Bombers extended their defense in an attempt to take away 3-pointers from the Knights at the start of the second half, and the strategy worked as Ithaca limited Clarkson to just one make from distance until the final minute of the quarter. In the meantime, the Bombers opened the third period with a 13-3 run, gaining a nine-point advantage when KellyAnne O'Reilly buried a 3-pointer at the 5:31 mark (39-30). Stewart responded by getting to the rim, converting three layups in quick succession to pull the Knights back within four. A 3-pointer by Stewart in the waning seconds had Clarkson trailing by five, but Ithaca tallied at the other end to increase the margin to seven through three periods.

Clarkson refused to go away in the fourth quarter, but could not close the gap to fewer than four points, a figure it reached on four occasions, including as late as the three-minute mark. A stream of fouls called on the Golden Knights put the Bombers at the free throw line with regularity in the final minutes, allowing Ithaca to claim a much larger margin of victory than expected.

Stewart shot 5-for-13 from beyond the 3-point arc to account for the majority of her 24 points, while Carly Assimon chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds. For Ithaca, Grace Cannon had 21 points and seven rebounds, KellyAnne O'Reilly produced 12 points, and Annie Giannone scored 11 points. Cassidy O'Malley also recorded a solid all-around effort with 9 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocked shots.