The Oswego State women's basketball team dropped its season-opener 61-49 to Clarkson University on Saturday evening in Max Ziel Gymnasium. As the contest was each teams' first contest, the Lakers are now 0-1 while the Golden Knights start 1-0.
Early in the game, the Lakers got off to a slow start as Clarkson jumped out to an 8-1 advantage. Oswego answered the challenge with an 8-1 run of its own to knot the game at 9-9. The run was capped by a Tayler Sorell 3-pointer. After a Clarkson field goal for a two-point lead, Sorell ended the first quarter with another trey to give the Lakers a 12-11 edge. It was more of the same in the second period, as the Golden Knights recaptured the lead, by as many as five points, before Oswego closed the gap. A pair of Courtney Ameele free throws with just four second remaining in the half made the Laker deficit just one, 27-26, at the break.
The start of the second half sealed Oswego's fate, as Clarkson opened on an 11-2 spurt over 4:39 to take control of the tilt. Oswego fought to cut the margin, getting back to within five halfway through the third quarter and then again to six with a minute left in that period. Each time, however, the Golden Knights quickly regained their advantage, stretching the lead to as many as 14 in the waning minutes.
Oswego was paced by Ameele's 14-point outing, with point guard Mary Mazzella close behind with 13 points of her own. Ameele shot 50.0% from both the field (3-for-6) and long distance (2-for-4) while hitting free-throws at a 75.0% clip (6-for-8). Mazzella recorded a double-double in the contest, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds to accompany the 13 points. Sarah Feminella helped on the boards with eight rebounds in her first collegiate game while sophomore Zana Dillard corralled seven caroms.
The Lakers will return to the court at 7:30 p.m. on Friday when it hosts Wells College in the Max Ziel Tournament. Friday's winner will go on to play the winner of the tournament's first game between Houghton College and Alvernia University for the championship at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
