SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Junior Kennedy Clark scored a career-high 17 points to lead four players in double figures as the Union College women's basketball team defeated Clarkson University by a 68-46 score and clinched a spot in the Liberty League Tournament for the second straight season on Friday night at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Union (9-14, 7-10 Liberty League) needed three things to go right in order to clinch a playoff berth on Friday, the first of which was knocking off Clarkson (8-14, 5-12 Liberty League) to remain in sixth place. Combined with Rochester Institute of Technology's 43-40 loss at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Vassar College's 85-61 win over William Smith College, Union clinched the sixth seed with a game to spare.
 
Clark led the home team with the highest scoring output of her career, hitting 5-of-8 shots from the field (including 3-of-4 from long range) and all four free-throw attempts in the win. Senior Olivia Pachla had the game's lone double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while classmate Megan Lee just missed a double-double of her own with 11 points and nine boards. First-year Jelena Perovic also hit 5-of-7 shots from the field on the way to 10 points.
 
Cassidy Dumont had a game-high 20 points to lead the Golden Knights, followed by Elaina Porter and Raelin Burns with eight points apiece.
 
Led by Pachla and Lee, Union dominated in the paint against the smaller Clarkson squad, posting a 50-31 edge in the glass and registering 14 second-chance points to Clarkson's zero. Union also recorded six blocks, led by two each from Lee and sophomore Claudia Porto, and scored 38 of its 68 points in the paint.
 
Union did not waste any time taking control of the contest, outscoring Clarkson 14-4 over the first 6:02. The home team held the visitors to 3-of-14 shooting in the opening frame in taking a 14-6 lead after 10 minutes. The second stanza started with an 11-3 run for the home team that opened up a 25-9 lead following a Perovic bucket with 5:43 left. After five straight Clarkson points, Union closed the frame with an 11-4 run, led by five points from Clark, to build up a 36-17 lead at the half.
 
Union cracked 20 points again in the third period to further extend its lead. The lead grew to as many as 31 points midway through the fourth when Clark hit a three to put the home team up 65-36 with 6:20 left, and Union managed to coast the rest of the way.
 
Union cooled off in the fourth quarter to put a slight damper on the team's shooting percentage, finishing the night at 38.2 percent (26 for 68) from the field. Clarkson had fewer opportunities thanks to Union's decisive rebounding edge, shooting 18-of-51 (35.3 percent) on the evening.
 
Union will wrap up the regular-season and home schedules tomorrow on Senior Day, when the team hosts St. Lawrence University for a 2 p.m. tipoff at Viniar Athletic Center.