Potsdam, NY - In a game where free throws were common place, the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team was able to make its freebies down the stretch as the Golden Knights pulled away late to claim an 84-69 victory over Elmira College Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.

With the win, Clarkson improved to 4-2 on the season, gaining its first victory against the Soaring Eagles since the 1994-95 season. Elmira fell to 2-3 overall. Clarkson will close out the first semester when it hosts SUNY Canton on Saturday, December 13th.

A swarming first half defense allowed Clarkson to come out of the gates early with the lead as both teams played somewhat sloppily in the opening moments. Elmira edged out to a 9-7 lead at the 14:40 mark, but it was the only time the Eagles would enjoy the lead in the entire game. Clarkson responded with a 10-0 run, capped by a Cara Manfredi (Glastonbury, CT) free throw at 11:22, and a few minutes later two 3-pointers from Manfredi helped spark a 12-2 run to give the Knights a 33-17 lead. The margin would increase to as many as 21 (41-20, 4:34 remaining), but Elmira scored 11 straight points, ended on a Danielle Cleary 3-pointer, to make sure that the game wasn't decided by the half. The two teams combined to commit 26 fouls in the first half, providing 34 free throws.

That run by Elmira proved vital, as the Soaring Eagles put together another solid push in the opening 11 minutes to pull within one points (63-62), once again slicing the margin down with a 3-pointer from Cleary. However, the Knights responded with a lay up by Brooke Butkovsky (Monroe, CT) to regain a three-point edge and Manfredi buried two more 3-pointers to give the Knights a seven-point lead with 6:23 to go. Still up by seven at the 5:50 mark, Clarkson was able to end the game with a 12-4 run as the Soaring Eagles went cold from the free throw line with both teams in the double-bonus. In fact, after making 18 of its first 23 free throws, Elmira ended the game 3-for-14 from the line. While Clarkson also started off hot (15-for-16) from the free throw line as well, but still managed to make seven of its final 12 attempts down the stretch.

Ashley Loggins (Albany, NY) finished with her fourth double-double in six games, scoring 22 points to go along with 11 rebounds and three steals, while Manfredi tossed in 19 points, going 4-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc. Stephanie Grobe (White River Junction, NY) and Alyssia Marsal (Clifton Park, NY) each scored nine points, with Marsal also grabbing seven rebounds. For Elmira, Alex Balara scored a game-high 24 points, going 8-for-15 from the field and 7-for-9 from the line, while also making five steals. Karli Pochkar had a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards and Clearly added in 21 points.