Sophomore Maureen Curley (Madrid/Madrid-Waddington) put together a strong all-around game for Potsdam (3-1). She scored eight points, grabbed 17 rebounds and made five assists. Megan Davis (Hammond/Hammond), also a sophomore, and Cortney Poirier (Moira/Brushton-Moira), a freshman, contributed 10 points apiece.
Graf scored nine of Potsdam’s final 11 points to aid the Bears’ surge. With 7:23 left, she made a lay-up to cut Clarkson’s lead to 43-39 and then Curley followed with another lay-up at 3:51 to make it 43-41.
After Clarkson freshman Casey Laush (Westford, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union) made a free throw to build the Knights’ lead to 44-41, Graf hit a lay-up with 1:08 left and then the game-winning trey with 33 seconds to go – making the score 46-44. With two seconds on the clock, Graf hauled down her seventh rebound and was immediately fouled before converting on two free throws to ice the game.
Clarkson used two early runs – one of eight points and the other, seven – to take the lead midway through the first half. It would hold onto this lead until Graf’s 3-pointer in the final minute.
Laush scored 11 points for Clarkson. Sophomores Rachel Whitermore (Holliston, Mass./Holliston) and Kelly Fink (Verona/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) added 10 and nine rebounds, respectively.
Potsdam will return to action this weekend with two SUNYAC home games. It will host Geneseo (Friday, 6 p.m.) and Brockport (Saturday, 2 p.m.).