Sophomore guard Olivia Middleton scored 20 points and added six assists to lead the St. Lawrence University women's basketball team to its first win of the season, topping Clarkson 79-73 in non-conference play on Friday afternoon in Potsdam, New York.

Middleton shot 7-for-13 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line, while Abby Doin added 15 points, shooting 3-for-6 from the arc, and Kristen Varin finished with 12. Sierra Sanson grabbed a team-best 14 rebounds and four steals.

After an evenly paced first quarter of play, the score remained tied 14-14. The Golden Knights then outscored the Saints 20-19 in the second quarter to take a one-point lead at halftime, off a 3-pointer from Molly Stewart, to lead 34-33.

Clarkson took an edge after the third quarter, outscoring the Saints 24-19, but it was the fourth quarter that made the difference for the Saints.

After a layup from Varin and a 3-pointer for Doin, the Saints took a four-point lead with 2:22 to play and took advantage from the free-throw line, shooting 6-for-8, and held onto their advantage for the win.

"Our young team took to heart the lessons from the last game versus Clarkson and worked very hard to get better at weaknesses exposed during that game," said head coach Dan Roiger. "They also elevated their intensity, focus and work ethic and saw the difference in their play. I'm so happy for them and proud of their efforts!"

"Our fourth quarter was excellent," Roiger added. "We adjusted on defense and did a better job on the boards during the last 10 minutes. Offensively we got more aggressive and made some excellent passes to get good shots. Abby's triple off an offensive rebound by Sierra was huge to give us a four-point lead with two minutes to play, and then we cashed in at the line to win the game despite two big threes by Clarkson in the final 35 seconds." 

Molly Stewart led the Golden Knights with 17 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the arc, while Carly Assimon added 14. Hannah Earl recorded a double-double with 13 points and a team-best 13 rebounds, while Elaina Porter also finished in the double-digits with 10 points.

The Saints improved to 1-1 on the season, while Clarkson fell to 1-2.

St. Lawrence's upcoming games will be released next week.