Jan. 13, 2010

Box Score

INDIANA - The Clarion University women's basketball team's comeback effort fell short in a 72-65 loss to IUP in the PSAC-West opener for both teams Wednesday evening at IUP's Memorial Field House.

The Golden Eagles (9-5 overall, 0-1 PSAC-West) trailed by 11, 44-33, at the half but rallied to take a 65-64 lead on two Courtney Healy free throws with 1:17 to play.

IUP (8-5, 1-0), the three-time defending PSAC champions, ended the game, however, with an 8-0 run that included hitting 6 of 7 free throws to seal the victory.

Clarion, which saw IUP hit 8 of 12 3-pointers in the first half, got tough defensively in the second half and started the half on a 16-7 run to cut the IUP lead to two, 51-49, with 10 minutes left. The run was fueled by five points each from Healy and Janelle Zabresky.

IUP stretched the lead back to six with 8:29 left on a Brianna Johnson free-throw, but Bethany Koch scored four of the next six points for Clarion tying the game at 55 with 5:52 to play.

The Crimson Hawks took the lead back on a Lacey Claar three-pointer, one of a school-record seven in the game for her, seconds later, and IUP's lead hovered between five and one until Healy hit the pair of free-throws at 1:17 to give Clarion its only lead of the half.

Lizzie Suwala led three Clarion players in double figures with 16 points and added five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Sara Pratt chipped in 13 points and five boards in just 19 minutes before leaving with an injury, while Healy scored 11, nine from the free-throw line.

Claar led all scorers with 24 points shooting 7 of 12 from 3-point range. Eryn Withers and Vianca Tejada also scored in double figures for IUP with Withers scoring 16 and pulling down eight boards and Tejada adding 13 points and two helpers.

The Golden Eagles return to action 1 p.m. Saturday when they host Gannon in a PSAC-West showdown. The game can be heard locally on WCUC, 91.7 FM and on the internet at www.redzonemedia.com.

IUP is back in action at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mercyhurst.

NOTES -]Three-point shooting was a difference in the game. IUP hit 12 of 23 from beyond the arc while Clarion was 2 of 18. The Golden Eagles stayed in the game thanks to a 25 of 35 performance from the free-throw line and 14 second-chance points ... Clarion's eight blocks in the game marks the seventh time this season the Golden Eagles have blocked six shots or more.