Dec. 18, 2008
Box Score
CLARION - The Clarion University women's basketball team used a 34-8 run sandwiched between halftime to end its five-game losing streak with a 68-56 win over visiting Fairmont State Thursday night at Tippin Gym.
The Golden Eagles (3-5), who hit just 2 of their first 19 shots, , trailed 23-10 with three minutes left in the first half.
But Clarion ended the half on a 12-4 run that included a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Shaina Smith that closed the deficit to 27-22 at the break. The Golden Eagles then started the second half on a 22-4 run to take command of the contest with a 44-31 advantage with 10 minutes left to play.
Fairmont State made a mini-run at Clarion cutting the lead to eight, 46-38, with 8:43 left, but the Golden Eagles had the answer in the form of a 14-3 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 19 points, 60-41, with 4:44 left in to play.
Clarion made sure it held the lead with great free-throw shooting. The Golden Eagles were 25 of 31 (80.6 percent) from the line in the game including 13 of 18 in the final 10 minutes.
It was a balanced effort offensively for Clarion with three players reaching double figures and nine players reaching the scoreboard. Katrina Greer led the way with 15 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots, while Smith had 12 points and two assists. Lizzie Suwala added 10 points, six rebounds, four steals, two assists and a blocked shot. Sara Pratt had nine points, 11 rebounds, two blocked shots, two steals and two assists, and Graeff had eight points, an assists and three boards. Bethany Koch chipped in nine rebounds to go with six points and four steals and had four offensive rebounds.
Gabby Guttuso had a double-double for Fairmont State with 10 points and 13 rebounds but was the only Falcon to reach double figures. Molly Kiger did add nine points off the bench, while Samantha Wanichko had 10 rebounds.
After the cold start, Clarion was on fire hitting nearly 60 percent (58.2 percent - 18 of 31) after the cold start. That helped the Golden Eagles shoot 40 percent for the game including a blistering 53.8 percent (14 of 26) in the second half. Fairmont State, on the other hand, shot 33.3 percent from the field including 26.5 percent in the second half.
Clarion returns to action Jan. 3 when it hosts East Stroudsburg at 1 p.m.
