Elmira College (1-3) vs. Clarkson University (3-1)
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 | 6:00 P.M. | Speidel Gymnasium – Elmira, NY
Live Coverage | Twitter: @ECSoaringEagles | Game Notes
 
Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College women's basketball team will continue its home stand on Tuesday evening when it opens up the month of December with a tilt against Clarkson University at Speidel Gymnasium. Opening tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
The Soaring Eagles earned their first victory of the season on November 24th, as EC defeated Hilbert College, 68-57, at Speidel Gymnasium. After a sluggish end to the second quarter allowed the Hawks to take a 26-25 lead at halftime, Elmira pieced together a 14-3 run in the third quarter to take a lead it would never relinquish. Danielle Cleary '18 continued her red-hot start with a season-high 29 points, the second-highest single-game total of her career. EC also received a career-high 16 points from Emily Green '18.
 
Turning Over a New Leaf
The Elmira offense saw a drastic improvement handling the ball in the win over Hilbert, as compared to EC's three season-opening losses. The Soaring Eagles averaged over 25 turnovers per game through the first three games of the season, but only coughed the ball up 14 times against the Hawks. In addition, the Purple and Goal dished out a season-high 14 assists, led by Lindsey Heaton '19 with a career-high seven dimes.
 
Three-Point Prowess
After shooting a lackluster 1-for-8 from three-point land in the season-opener against the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, Elmira has seen increasing success from distance. The Soaring Eagles have made six, seven and eight treys, respectively, in their last three games. In addition to making a season-high eight three-pointers against Hilbert, EC's 42.1 three-point field-goal percentage also marked a season best. Additionally, the Hawks were held to just one trey on two attempts, the fewest attempted threes by an opponent since Morrisville State went 0-for-2 on January 16, 2007.
 
Clear For Takeoff
Cleary's performance so far this season has been nothing short of historic. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, no Elmira player has averaged as many points as Cleary's 20.8 per game average through the first four games of the season. Not even former All-American and Empire 8 Player of the Year Jessica Zoltowski '14 could match that feat, as she averaged 19.0 points per game in the first four games of her senior season. If Cleary keeps performing at a high level, she could threaten Zoltowski's season record of 21.1 points per game from 2013-14, which currently stands as the only 20-plus point average in EC history.
 
Charitable Donations
Elmira has taken advantage of its opportunities from the charity stripe through the first four games of the season, as EC leads the Empire 8 Conference in both free throws made and free-throw percentage. The Purple and Gold have made 80 of their 105 attempts, good for a 76.2 conversion rate, the 34th-best percentage in the nation. Individually, Cleary's 34 made free throws are more than double that of the next closest player in the Empire 8, while Cleary and Meghan Loya '16 rank third and fourth, respectively, in the conference in free-throw percentage.
 
Series History
The Soaring Eagles and Golden Knights have faced each other nine times over the last 14 seasons. Elmira holds an 8-1 record against Clarkson in that span, with the only loss coming in last season's meeting. The Golden Knights defeated EC, 84-69, on December 6, 2014. The loss came despite 24 points from Alex Balara '15, 21 points from Cleary, and a double-double from Karli Pochkar '16. Clarkson shot over 50 percent from the field, including a rate of 63.2 percent (12-for-19) in the second half en route to the win.
 
Scouting Clarkson
The Golden Knights are off to another strong start, as they enter Tuesday's matchup with a 3-1 record on the season. Clarkson is coming off of a stellar 2014-15 campaign that featured a 18-8 overall record and a trip to the Liberty League Tournament. Senior forward Ashley Loggins, an All-Liberty League Second Team honoree a year ago, leads the team in scoring and rebounds with 16.8 and 12.0, respectively. She also paces the Golden Knights with 22 steals and is tied for the team lead with 2.5 assists per game. Clarkson is one of the Liberty League's top defensive teams; the Golden Knights are second in the conference in both scoring defense (53.0 points allowed per game) and field-goal percentage defense (35.2 percent), and are tops in steals per game with 15.0.
 
Looking Ahead
The Elmira women will hit the road for the first of three games away from Speidel Gymnasium, as EC takes on Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA, on Thursday, December 3^rd, at 6:00 p.m.