CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team was on fire offensively in the first half but was unable to hold off Wheeling Jesuit at home, as the Golden Eagles fell by 71-60 score to the Cardinals at Tippin Gymnasium on Monday night. With the loss Clarion falls to 3-8 overall on the season. The Golden Eagles will host Seton Hill on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 5:30 p.m.
Tyra Polite topped 20 points for the second straight game, hitting the mark right on the head with an 8-of-17 shooting performance from the field. She shot at a torrid pace in the first half, going 6-of-9 in the first 20 minutes for 16 points.
Tania Holmes added 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and
Delrika Jones-Carey added six points, five rebounds and two assists.
Clarion shot an impressive 17-of-30 (.570) from the field in the opening half of play, including an 8-of-15 (.533) mark from three-point range. They cooled off in the second half and the Cardinals rebounded, though, as Wheeling Jesuit took the lead in the fourth quarter and held on for the win. The biggest difference came in the paint, where the Cardinals outscored the Golden Eagles 38-22.
Things started out fast and furious for the Golden Eagles, who opened the game on an 8-2 run to set the Cardinals on their heels. Polite drilled a three-pointer to open the scoring and closed out the run with another trey, this one from the left wing to make it 8-2. Wheeling Jesuit took an 11-10 lead on a three-pointer by Taylor Lubinsky but Clarion countered with another run, this time outscoring the Cardinals 14-2 over the last five minutes of the first quarter.
Jones-Carey pumped the lead to eight points with a make off a feed from Polite to make it 21-13, and Polite closed out the big run with a three-pointer that made it 24-13 with 45 seconds left in the quarter.
Jen Straw kept that double-digit lead on in the second quarter, making it 27-16 with a putback, and she added on again with a transition bucket to make it 37-23 with 4:20 left. The lead reached its high water mark with 2:04 remaining in the first half when Holmes banged home a three to make it 43-26, and the Golden Eagles led 43-30 entering the locker room at the break.
Things took a turn in the third quarter, though the Golden Eagles maintained their lead throughout the period. The Cardinals cut the lead to one point on a pair of free throw makes by Jaila Bryant, but
Nicole Maxson made a three-pointer to increase the lead to 48-44 and Jones-Carey scored in the paint to make it 50-44 with 2:03 left in the period.
Clarion led as late as the 7:54 mark of the fourth quarter when
Jordan Bekelja made one of two free throws, but Wheeling Jesuit took the lead with a three-pointer by Kyle Frizell that made it 58-55. The deficit was cut to four points with a minute remaining but Wheeling Jesuit held on for the victory.
