Potsdam, NY – A rough scoring stretch in the third quarter put the Clarkson University Women's Basketball team into a hole from which it could not recover as the Golden Knights dropped a 69-44 decision to Ithaca College on Friday evening at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights fell to 7-14 overall and 4-10 in the Liberty League, while Ithaca improved to 17-5 and 12-3. Clarkson will close out the home portion of the schedule on Saturday when it hosts Union College.

In the opening minutes of the first quarter, Clarkson was not having difficult putting points on the board as a Molly Stewart 3-pointer at the 4:41 mark had the Knights on pace for close to 20 points in the opening period. However, Ithaca ended the period on an 8-2 run to gain a four-point edge. At the start of the second, Carly Assimon converted a layup to keep the Knights within four, but Ithaca went on a 9-2 run in the next two minutes, capped off by a Cassidy O'Malley layup, to give the Bombers their first double-digit lead of the game. Clarkson got back to within six on another Stewart 3-pointer with 3:35 remaining, but those were the last points the Knights would score in the half.

For the first four minutes of the third quarter, Clarkson and Ithaca remained separated by 10 points, but the Bombers used a 15-5 run in the final six minutes, with two big 3-pointers from Annie Giannone and KellyAnne O'Reilly providing a boost. That run allowed Ithaca to expand its lead to 20 through three quarters, and though Raeanna Dunn's 3-pointer in the first minute of the fourth pulled the Knights back to a deficit in the teens, the Bombers would play the final eight minutes of the game with a 20-plus point lead.

Ithaca enjoyed a 44-24 edge on the glass and shot 50.9% overall from the floor (27-for-53). Clarkson shot only 31.5% (17-for-54) but forced the Bombers into 25 turnovers.

Molly Stewart led the team with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks while Kati Gotch added nine points on 4-for-6 shooting. For Ithaca, Cassidy O'Malley scored a game-high 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and Grace Cannon produced 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting. KellyAnne O'Reilly also chipped in 10 points in just 14 minutes off the bench.