Team Seeding
1. Skidmore College – Roster | Stats
2. William Smith College – Roster | Stats
3. Rochester Institute of Technology – Roster | Stats
4. Clarkson University – Roster | Stats

How they reached the Championship...Just like the men's tournament it was an upset as both lower seeds (3) RIT and (4) Clarkson advanced to the championship game. The Tigers will host Clarkson after knocking off second seed William Smith as they outscored the Herons 34-21. Cori Okada led the team, scoring 12 of her 18 points in the second half. Tara Lynch added 12 points and Jessica Glaz registered nine. Okada also had four assists and three steals while Lynch also had eight rebounds. In Saratoga, Clarkson knocked off the first seed and regular season champions Skidmore. It was a total team-effor for the Golden Knights as they saw five players register points in double figures, Devin Sorell who had a team-best 22 points. Stephanie Grobe and Madison Shea, who both had 13. Molly Stewart and Kathleen Coloney were not far behind with 11 points apiece. 

Earlier this season... The regular season games between these two teams were split, with each of the teams winning on their home court. Clarkson took the first game of the season series in early January, winning 80-77. Madison Shea and Devin Sorell combined for 42 points to lead the Golden Knights. They also combined for seven rebounds and five assists. In early February, the Tigers came away with the victory, 78-63, thanks to a total of five scorers in double figures, including Tara Lynch and Ashlynn Palmitesso, who each scored 21 in the 15-point win. 

Last year's championship...This year's championship game will be a rematch of last year's. Clarkson was the top seed while RIT was the second. It was a close game, despite the Golden Knights holding a 20-point lead over the Tigers, 48-28, at half time. The Tigers made a come back in the second half outscoring Clarkson 25-11 in the third quarter. RIT even tied it twice as the game was coming to a close, 61-61 and 63-63 but it would not be enough as Clarkson won 65-63. It was the Golden Knights' first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1989 and were the first Liberty League women's basketball team to win the regular season and postseason titles since 2006.
 

CHAMPIONSHIP: #4 Clarkson at #3 RIT February 25, 2017 - Rochester, N.Y. - 4 p.m. Directions / Live Video / Live Stats
	(3) RIT 18-8 (10-6 Liberty League) Leaders: PPG- Cori Okada, 15.1 RPG- Tara Lynch, 5.2 APG- Cori Okada, 5.0
	(4) Clarkson 16-10 (10-6 Liberty League) Leaders: PPG- Devin Sorell, 16.2 RPG- Alyssia Marsal, 7.8 APG- Madison Shea, 3.7
Regular Season Matchups (RIT & CU split series 1-1) January 21, 2017: Clarkson 80, RIT 77 February 3, 2017: RIT 78, Clarkson 63

Tournament Preview

Skidmore, with a 13-3 league record and a 17-8 overall mark, claimed the first seed in this year’s Liberty League Women’s Basketball Championship for the first time since the 2009-10 season. The Thoroughbreds missed last year’s tournament but are back in the mix for third time in five seasons. William Smith earned the second seed with a 13-3 league record as the Herons are back in the postseason for the first time since 2013-14. No. 3 seed RIT (17-8, 10-6 Liberty League) returns for a second consecutive year as the Tigers won their first-ever Liberty League postseason game and advanced to the championship game for the first time in program history last year. Clarkson (15-10, 10-6 Liberty League) is also back, a year removed from capturing its first Liberty League title, the Golden Knights are the fourth seed and will be making their third straight postseason appearance.

Skidmore: The Thoroughbreds have one of the top defensive teams in the league as they pace league leaders in field goal defense (.336), 3-point defense (.268) while ranking second in scoring defense (54.8 PPG). Offensively, Skidmore is led by 2015-16 Liberty League Co-Player of the Year Kelly Donnelly. Donnelly leads the league in scoring with 20.6 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game. She also averaged a league-best 2.7 steals per game. Veronia Moceri is second on the team in scoring (9.6 PPG) and Migle Vilunaite is third with 6.7 points per game and is second in rebounding with 5.3 per game.

Clarkson: The Golden Knights are led by juniors Devin Sorell and Madison Shea as well as senior Stephanie Grobe. All three have played in and started all 25 games for Clarkson this season. Sorell is the team’s top scorer, ranked second among league leaders in points per game with 16.0. Shea and Grobe have both registered at least 10 points per game at 10.4 and 10.2 respectively. Shea leads the team and is among league leaders in assists (third, 3.7) and steals (t-first, 2.7) per game. Senior Alyssia Marsal also contributes with a team-best 7.6 rebounds per game and 6.2 points per game.

William Smith: William Smith is headlined by the duo of Melanie Patterson and Mia Morrison. Morrison paces the team in scoring (14.3 PPG), rebounding (7.2 RPG) and blocked shots (0.6 BPG). Patterson is not far behind Morrison, averaging 14.2 points per game. She also has team-best 3.1 assists per game, good for fourth in the league. Natalia Baum is the third of the Herons’ to average double-digits in scoring this season with 10.9 points per game. As a team, the Herons are second in scoring offense with 67.4 points per game.

RIT: RIT opened the year with an eight-game win streak and in their last eight games, the Tigers are 7-1. The Tigers lead the league in scoring with 73.1 points per game and they are also tops in the conference for field goal percentage (.432) as well as 3-point shooting percentage (.348). RIT has four scorers in double digits—Cori Okada, Tara Lynch, Jessica Glaz and Ashlynn Palmitesso. Okada is the team leader in scoring with team-highs of 13.9 points per game and 4.9 assists per game. Lynch, last year’s Rookie of the Year, averaged 12.8 points per game and leads the team in rebounds per game (4.8). Glaz paces the team in three-pointers, making 45 so far this season, while also contributing 12.6 points per game and Palmitesso recorded 10.0 points per game.