CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team put on a hard push in the fourth quarter but was unable to finish the deal against Slippery Rock on Wednesday, falling 71-58 to the Rock at Tippin Gymnasium.  The Golden Eagles fall to 6-12 overall and 6-6 in PSAC competition on the season.
 
Tyra Polite finished with a team-high 17 points, in part because of a solid 5-of-12 performance from three-point range against the Rock.  Delrika Jones-Carey tied for the game-high in rebounds with Slippery Rock's Megan Hardiman, hauling in 10 caroms.  Tania Holmes and reigning PSAC-West Freshman of the Week Jordan Bekelja each tied with nine points, with Bekelja adding a team-high four assists.
 
Clarion struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, finishing just 8-of-31 from the field, but rebounding with a strong 14-of-34 performance in the second half.  That included a 46.2 three-point field goal percentage.  The Golden Eagles outscored the Rock 21-10 in the fourth quarter but could not pull within striking distance of Slippery Rock.
 
The Golden Eagles fell into a hole early in the first quarter as they struggled to take the lid off the rim, but it was just a three-possession ballgame with 1:55 left in the period after Jen Straw took a feed from Bekelja and laid it in to make it 17-9.  Straw kept the Golden Eagles within just a few baskets again early in the second period, this time taking a pass from Holmes and making a layup to cut The Rock's lead to just 22-13.  Slippery Rock took control for the remainder of the second quarter, outscoring the Golden Eagles 15-5 the rest of the way to hold a 37-18 lead at the halftime break.
 
The lead increased to as many as 27 points with 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but Clarion battled the rest of the way to keep the pressure on the Rock.  Taylor Moltz tipped in an offensive rebound with 1:54 remaining to cut the lead to under 20 points, and Marina Kelly buried a three-pointer from the corner off a feed from Amesha Harden-Pulliam to make it 70-54.  Harden-Pulliam dished off an assist on the next possession as well, feeding Nicole Maxson for a layup with 1:01 left to cut it to 14 points.
 
Harden-Pulliam added to her own points total with a pair of free throws near the end of regulation, downing two tosses to make the final deficit 71-58.