POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Skidmore College women's basketball team had its best shooting performance of the season in an impressive 74-52 victory at Clarkson, in Liberty League action at Alumni Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
 
Skidmore improves to 2-5 overall (1-1 Liberty League), winning its first league contest of the season. Clarkson is 2-3 overall and 1-1 after the first league weekend.
 
Skidmore shot a season-best 48.3 percent from the field and tallied 19 points off Clarkson turnovers in the win. Junior guard Jessica Centore led the way with a career-high 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, adding nine rebounds, four points, and four steals. Senior guard Haley English added 13 points and four rebounds. Freshman guard Kate McCarney provided a big lift for the Thoroughbreds off the bench, tallying 14 points (6-for-10 shooting) and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Sydney Tsutsui capped the double-digit scorers with 11 points and three assists. Freshman forward Clare Driscoll added eight points and six rebounds in her second career start. The Thoroughbreds also committed a season-low seven turnovers in the win.
 
Hannah Earl led the Golden Knights with 15 points and seven rebounds. Carly Assimon added 13 points, while Molly Stewart chipped in nine.
 
Down 11 points early, (16-5) the Thoroughbreds went on a run to narrow the gap between the first and second quarters. The run began with English splitting a pair of free throws, then Tsutsui scored on a driving layup on the next possession to cut the deficit to eight. Clarkson brought the lead up to 10 on a pair of Stewart free throws, but Tsutsui ended the first quarter scoring with a 3-pointer to bring the deficit to 18-11.
 
Skidmore began the second quarter with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 20 with 6:50 to go. Clarkson would retake the lead with five straight points, but freshman guard Kate McCarney came off the bench, hitting a pair of jumpers to spark a 6-1 run. Freshman forward Clare Driscoll tied the game at 26 with a jumper, with McCarney giving Skidmore its first lead of the game (28-26) on a driving layup from the wing with 41 seconds left in the half. With the game tied at 28, English pulled up for a jumper just inside the 3-point line, nailing the shot with nine seconds left as Skidmore took a 30-28 lead into halftime. The Thoroughbreds shot 43.3 percent (13-for-30) from the field in the opening half.
 
The Thoroughbreds began the second half with a floater by Centore, extending its lead to 32-28 before the Golden Knights worked to take a three point, 35-32 lead. Skidmore would work to retake the 36-35 lead at the 5:56 mark, first on a Taylor Ong layup, then Centore stole an inbound pass and raced the other way for the fast break bucket. Skidmore ended the quarter on an 8-3 spurt, capped by a McCarney jumper with 56 seconds left, as the Thoroughbreds took a 44-38 lead into the fourth.
 
The Thoroughbreds kept its hot shooting into the final quarter, extending to its largest lead of the game (54-42) on a corner trey by Tsutsui and a deep jumper by McCarney with 6:25 left. Clarkson tallied five quick points, thanks to a heads-up defensive play by Stewart, but the Thoroughbreds responded with a 3-pointer from English on the wing. Centore would feed Driscoll with the fast break jumper at the 4:43 mark, as the Thoroughbreds retook the 12-point, 59-47 lead. It kickstarted an impressive Skidmore run over the last 5:29, as the Thoroughbreds outscored the Golden Knights by a 20-5 margin to end the game.
 
Skidmore will take a break from league action, returning home for a match-up against The Sage Colleges on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Thoroughbreds will be collecting canned goods at the Williamson Sports Center during the Tuesday contest.