Jan. 10, 2009

Box Score

MANSFIELD - Katrina Greer recorded a double-double to lead Clarion to a 71-59 win over Mansfield Saturday afternoon at Mansfield's Decker Gymnasium.

Greer had a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds to go with four steals, and the Golden Eagles (4-7) led or were tied for 39 of the 40 minutes in their first road game in nearly a month.

Sara Pratt added 14 points, six rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and steal, while Lizzie Suwala chipped in with 11 points off the bench for Clarion. Bethany Koch just missed a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds, including six offensive boards. She added four assists.

Mallory Moore paced Mansfield (4-8) with 19 points, the lone Mountaineer in double figures. Courtney Brooks had seven points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals but shot just 2 of 13 from the floor.

Clarion led by five, 31-26, at halftime and then used a 10-0 run early in the second half to go up by 12, 41-29, with 14:10 to play on a tip-in by Koch.

That lead grew to 14, 52-38, six minutes later before Mansfield made a run going on an 11-2 spurt that cut the lead ot five, 54-49, on a free throw by Moore with 5:06 left.

The Mountaineers were still within five, 62-57, with 2:01 to play, but Clarion was solid from the free-throw line down the stretch hitting 7 of 10 charity shots in the last 1:52. That helped the Golden Eagles shoot 80.8 percent (21 of 26) from the foul line in the game, the fourth time this year Clarion has been over 80 percent from the stripe. Greer (10 of 12) and Pratt (6 of 6) led the way from the line.

Rebounding also played a big role in the win, as Clarion had 52 boards to Mansfield's 32 including 22 to 16 on the offensive glass. That led to 18 second-chance points for the Golden Eagles to only six for Mansfield.

NOTES - It was Clarion's first road game since Dec. 15 ... Clarion returns to action at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bloomsburg ... The Golden Eagles are now 1-2 in PSAC Crossover play this season and 40-19 since mandatory crossover play started in 2001. That includes an 8-1 mark vs. Mansfield ... Greer is now eight points shy of becoming the eighth player in school history to score 1,200 career points. She had 1,192 tallies. She would be the third Golden Eagle to reach 1,200 career points since 2004 and the second in the last two seasons. Jessica Albanese finished her career last year with 1,244 tallies.