CLARION, Pa. – Slippery Rock outscored Clarion by six in overtime ruining a pair of 20-point performances by Golden Eagles Tania Holmes and Delrika Jones-Carey in Clarion's home finale Sunday afternoon at Tippin Gym.
 
Cara Cook forced the extra session when she hit a 3-pointer for the Golden Eagles with 10.2 seconds left. D'Asia Chambers had a chance to win the game for Slippery Rock, but her jumper with 2.3 to play in regulation was off the mark. Holmes then tried a half-court shot at the horn that was off the mark.
 
Holmes finished with a team-high 26 points while completing her second double-double of the year with 10 rebounds. She also added a career-high seven steals. The junior guard was 17 of 18 from the free-throw line, the second-most made free throws in school history behind the 18 Carlita Jones hit Jan. 22, 1994, against IUP when she went 18 of 21 from the line. Holmes is the first player in school history to go 17 of 17 at the start of a game.
 
Jones-Carey added 22 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal while going 9 of 11 from the field.
 
Clarion led 43-34 at halftime, but a cold-shooting second-half proved to be the Golden Eagles undoing.
 
Prior to Cook's game-tying shot from the right elbow, the Golden Eagles were just 2 of 21 in the second half from the floor allowing Slippery Rock to come back and take the 66-63 lead.
 
Things didn't change in overtime for Clarion, which shot just 2 of 8 in the extra session, while Slippery Rock was 4 of 5 from field in the extra five minutes.
 
Chambers, who had 27 points and 11 rebounds including five in overtime, gave The Rock the lead for good on a jumper 1:11 into overtime. A Holmes' free throw got Clarion back within one, 68-67, with 3:34 to play.
 
The teams then exchanged baskets with Chambers scoring for Slippery Rock and Jones-Carey for Clarion to put the score at 70-69, The Rock, with 3:02 to play before Slippery Rock scored the next seven points to put the game away.
 
In the second half, The Rock used a half-starting 20-7 run thanks in part to Clarion shooting 1 of 10 from the floor with seven turnovers, to turn the nine-point halftime deficit into a 54-50 lead on free throws by Megan Hardiman, who had a double-double of her own with 11 points and 10 rebounds, with 11:08 left in regulation.
 
Clarion answered with strong defense that held Slippery Rock without a basket between the 12:25 mark of the half and the 4:09 mark and retook the lead, 58-54, with a quick 8-0 spurt that saw Holmes hit four charity shots, Jones-Carey nail two and Jen Straw hit a jumper, part of a six-point, 11-rebound, 4-block performance for the sophomore forward.
 
The lead then changed hands three times and was tied three other times before free throws by Hardiman put Slippery Rock ahead 66-63 with 44 seconds left.
 
The Rock then had a chance to salt the game away at the line, but Chambers missed a pair of charity shots with 29 seconds left giving Clarion a chance to tie the game, which it did when Cook came off a screen, took a pass from Holmes and buried the triple.
 
Clarion played perhaps its best half of the season in the first half shooting 18 of 30 (60 percent) from the floor while racking up the 43 first-half points. Jones-Carey had 16 points in the half while going 8 of 10 from the floor, while Holmes added 11 points.
 
NOTES – Prior to the game, the Golden Eagles honored Hannah Heeter, the team's lone senior. Heeter has been out since mid-December with a knee injury but finishes her career as one of the greatest Golden Eagles ever. She is the school-record holder in rebounds per game with 12.4 and had a career double-double by adding 14.0 rpg. Her 967 career rebounds are the fourth most ever at Clarion, and her 1,095 points ranks ninth. She also had 97 blocked shots in her career, the sixth most while being named the PSAC West Freshman of the Year in 2012, a second-team PSAC West choice in 2012 and a first-team selection in 2013 and 2014. She also was a four-year star on the Golden Eagle volleyball team and won numerous academic/athletic awards including four Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America awards while being named the Academic All-America of the Year in women's volleyball in 2013 … It was the first overtime game for Clarion since a 76-69 loss at East Stroudsburg Dec. 19, 2012, a span of 70 games between overtimes. It was the first home overtime contest for the Golden Eagle since a 72-69 win over California (Pa.) Jan. 25, 2012 and the first overtime home loss since a 64-59 loss to Cal Feb. 18, 2006.  It was Clarion's 14^th overtime game since the 1999-2000 season with the Golden Eagles going 7-7 in those games including 4-3 at Tippin Gym … Clarion closes the season at IUP at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday