GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College basketball team rallied from a 19-point deficit to post a 94-83 Liberty League win over Clarkson University this afternoon. Junior Mia Morrison scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds to pace the Herons.
 
William Smith (12-9, 6-8 LL) led for just four seconds in regulation, taking a 77-75 lead with 18 seconds remaining on a 3-pointer by Juliana Gamboa. At the other end of the floor, CU senior Devin Sorell drove straight to the basket to tie the game. The Herons got off a 3-pointer at the end of regulation, but it was off the mark, necessitating overtime.
 
William Smith opened the scoring in OT on a 3-pointer by junior Olivia Hughes and never looked back. A 14-2 run propelled the home team to a 91-79 lead with 89 seconds remaining. Sophomore Molly Stewart made the visitor's only field goal in overtime, a 3-pointer that got the Golden Knights within nine. Morrison netted eight points in extra time with Gamboa adding four, finishing with a career-high 19 points.
 
Hughes gave the Herons a second double-double, scoring 12 points to go with 10 rebounds. Junior Adrianne Torea and first-year Stavriana Dimitrakopoulou chipped in 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
 
Clarkson (8-12, 3-10) led by as many as seven in the first quarter and scored the final six points of the opening stanza to take a 23-17 lead. In the second quarter, the Golden Knights built some momentum and stretched their lead to 41-22 over the first six minutes. William Smith started its comeback by finishing the first half on a 9-2 run, going into the break down 43-31.
 
The Herons' rally really started to pick up speed at the end of the third quarter. Dimitrakopoulou scored on a driving layup with just over a minute left to cut Clarkson's lead to 63-51. CU missed a 3 at the other end of the floor and Morrison corralled the rebound, setting up another finger roll bucket for Dimitrakopoulou. William Smith got another stop on defense, this time Hughes blocked a shot and grabbed the rebound and Dimitrakopoulou again scored for the Herons, this time canning a triple to make it a 63-56 game going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Knights managed to push their lead back out to 12 by the midpoint of the frame, but a 3-pointer by Gamboa near the 4:40 mark sparked a 12-0 Heron run. Gamboa's layup tied the game with less than two minutes left in regulation.
 
Sorell put her team back in front on a bucket with about 20 seconds later. Morrison made the second of two free throws with just under a minute to go to set the stage for the end of regulation and OT.
 
Sorell led the visitors with 25 points and a game-high five assists. Stewart added 23 points, connecting on a three 3-pointers. She also grabbed a team-high seven boards. Senior Madison Shea added 14 points.
 
Two factors were critical to William Smith's comeback. The first was shooting percentage. After making just 39 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, the Herons upped their rate to 56 percent in the second half. The second factor was foul trouble. While Morrison fouled out in the final minute of the game, four of CU's five starters fouled out.
 
The win moves William Smith into a tie with Rensselaer for sixth place in the Liberty League standings. The top six teams in the final standings will compete in the Liberty League Championship Tournament. The Herons and Engineers split their regular season meetings.
 
William Smith will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 9. The Herons will travel to Skidmore (12-8, 10-3) for a 6 p.m. tip off.