Troy, NY - A strong start that saw the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team score 43 first-half points was enough for the Golden Knights to gain a key Liberty League victory on the road against Rensselaer, outlasting the Engineers 72-66 on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights improved to 17-6 overall and 10-4 in the Liberty League, good enough for a tie for second in the conference. Rensselaer fell to 13-10 overall and 9-5 as the conference standings tightened up considerably. Only St. Lawrence at 12-2 has clinched a playoff spot while four other teams are still vying for three spots entering the final week of the conference season.

The win for Clarkson was its first in Troy since the 1995-96 season, the last time that the Knights swept Rensselaer, and was only the second win by the Green and Gold against the Engineers since 1996.

Clarkson led for all but 10 seconds in the game, just the opening ticks of the contest seeing the game tied before Ashley Loggins made a free throw. That turned out to be the start of a solid run in the first half. Loggins buried a 3-pointer midway through the half to push Clarkson to a double-digit advantage (21-10, 10:46), and a Cara Manfredi make less than three minutes later pushed the lead to 15 (30-15, 7:55). Clarkson would hold its good-sized advantage for the rest of the half, edging out to as many as 18 points late in the half before finally settling for a 16-point cushion at the break.

In the second half, the Knights earned their first 20-point lead at the 14:59 mark and a 3-pointer from Manfredi at 11:20 game Clarkson a 21-point margin. From that point, the Engineers would begin to make a run. using the next five minutes to close to within 11 points (60-49). Though the Knights would slow down offensively, it wasn't until the final minute that the outcome became questionable when Rensselaer pulled to within five points with just 31 seconds to go. However, Clarkson players made four free throws down the stretch to gain some breathing room and clinch the victory.

Loggins finished with a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds, adding in three steals, and Stephanie Grobe contributed 13 points and six rebounds. Alyssia Marsal also chipped in eight points and nine rebounds. Cara Manfredi also scored 11 points in the game, helping her surpass the 1,000-point mark for her career. Manfredi scored 287 points in her two seasons at Geneseo before coming to Clarkson and amassing 722 points in her 47 career games with the Knights.

For Rensselaer, Amanda Lynch had a game-high 24 points, going 13-for-17 from the free throw line, and added in eight boards and four steals. Ashley Clough also produced 20 points and had seven rebounds and four blocked shots.