By Carly Rodriguez
Contributing Writer
Albany, NY- According to Sophomore Nina Fedullo, the Knights went into pre-season
very optimistic. With a 10-17 record last season, the Knights are ready for a “comeback season”
said Fedullo. Although they lost their home opener, 59-53 to the Southern Connecticut State
Owls in Wednesday evening’s match up, the Golden Knights do not see this stopping them from
moving forward to a winning season.
While the Knights struggled offensively due to turnovers, their defense held the Owls
from gaining a bigger lead. They went 100 percent from the free throw line but, on the other
hand, gave away points to the Owls with 14 fouls against them. Senior Zoe McDonald
commented, “we definitely need to take more pride in our possessions but overall I think we
played well with the exception of turnovers.”
The Golden Knights’ top three scorers included: junior Courtney Clasen, senior Karissa
Birthwright, and senior Ashley Vanderwall. Two key players from the Owls were Jessica Fressle
and Kiana Steinauer. The two ladies alone had the first 16 points for the Owls. Allie Smith, was
also crucial to the Owls win, throwing up a couple of three’s towards the end of the game to
break the tie that had been back and forth since halftime.
Clasen, the Knights’ highest scorer, is a transfer student from Coastal Carolina where she played Division I basketball. This is Clasen’s first true season with the Knights, due to injury of her left ankle early last season. Having a healthy Clasen could make a huge difference in Northeast-10 conference play for the Knights this season.
The two teams will be seen face to face again on February 9, but on the Owl’s court. Saint Rose Coach Karen Haag had some post game comments and strategy for their next matchup with the Owls: “I’m a little disappointed in our offensive, the fact that we couldn’t seem to get in any kind of rhythm. We struggled to take care of the basketball way too many times. We had way too many turnovers,” said Haag.
“We did do a great job at the foul line, we out rebounded them, and we were solid
defensively for the most part, except for defending the three.” Looking ahead to what they need
to work on for when the two teams meet later in the season, Haag stated, “Unfortunately those
turnovers proved to be very costly and cost us the game. But we will see them again and we will
have worked on our turnovers.”
