Box Score EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Tania Holmes' two free throws with 32 seconds to play completed a comeback from double-digits down for the Clarion University women's basketball team giving the Golden Eagles a 68-66 win at East Stroudsburg Saturday afternoon.
 
Clarion (5-6) trailed by as many as 14, 20-6, early on, by 10, 32-22, at halftime and by 10, 51-41, with 12:35 to play before ending the game on an 18-8 run that started with an old-school Raven Jones 3-point play with 6:02 to play in regulation and ended when Holmes hit the charity shots after being fouled by East Stroudsburg's Jessica Martin.
 
The Warriors (6-7) had one final chance to tie the game, but Helena Gemmell missed a layup with two seconds left with Clarion's Jasmine Boyd collecting the rebound to seal the victory.
 
Emma Fickel played a key role in Clarion's comeback scoring eight points during the 18-8 run that erased a 58-50 deficit. Six of those points came on a pair of 3-pointers including one with 3:18 left that gave the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game, 63-60, and then another with 1:02 to play that tied the game at 66 after East Stroudsburg had answered with a 6-0 spurt of its own to take a 66-63 lead with 1:21 to play.
 
After Fickel's second triple during the stretch, East Stroudsburg's Ryann Fiascki turned the ball over leading to Holmes getting fouled and hitting the game-winning free throws.
 
Fickel led Clarion, winners of three of its last four, with 15 points shooting 6 of 11 from the field including 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. Jones and Kelly Johnson each added 12 points, while Holmes had 11 points and a career-high nine assists to go with five steals. Hannah Heeter chipped in with seven points and six rebounds despite being in foul trouble most of the afternoon.
 
Martin paced all scorers with 20 points to go with 11 rebounds for East Stroudsburg with Fiascki adding 18 points and Melissa Poderis 10.
 
Most of the first half belonged to East Stroudsburg, as the Warriors jumped to the 20-6 lead 7:47 into the game thanks to eight points from Poderis and seven from Martin.
 
Clarion fought back and got within seven a couple of times in the half, the latest being at 33-26 on a Johnson layup with 35 seconds to go in the half before East Stroudsburg scored the half's final three points on an old-school three by Fiascki to go into the break up 10.
 
The Warriors got the lead to 12, 40-28, early in the second half, but Clarion was able to stay within shouting distance for the next 10 minutes never allowing the East Stroudsburg lead to get to more than 10 the rest of the game.
 
The Golden Eagles shot 53.8 percent (28 of 52) from the field, the second time this season they have shot better than 50 percent while holding East Stroudsburg to 39 percent (23 of 59) shooting. Both teams hit four 3-pointers, but the Warriors were 16 of 20 from the free-throw line compared to 8 of 10 for Clarion. The Golden Eagles also turned the ball over 20 times to ESU's 16 giveaways allowing East Stroudsburg to outscored Clarion 22-16 off turnovers. The Warriors also had 13 offensive rebounding allowing them to outpace the Golden Eagles 13-0 in second-chance points despite the rebounding battle ending at 39 apiece.
 
Clarion returns to action at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts West Chester.
 
NOTES – The game was the first game this season for Clarion decided by single digits … Clarion is now 12-2 over the last four seasons in games decided by four points or less including 10-1 in games decided by one possession … Holmes' previous career high for assists was six accomplished twice, once last season and then again this year at Lock Haven Dec. 21. Her five steals was one off her season high of six, which she had at Slippery Rock Nov. 20.