INDIANA, Pa. - The Clarion women's basketball team was engaged in a back-and-forth affair on the road on Saturday, but the Golden Eagles were unable to get the final leg up on IUP in falling 68-57 at the Kovalchick Complex.  Clarion falls to 6-13 overall, 6-7 in PSAC play with the loss.

The two teams traded off in terms of strong periods, with the Golden Eagles doing their best work in the second and fourth quarters on Saturday.  They turned an 11-point deficit after the first quarter into just a four-point one at the break, outscoring the Crimson Hawks 18-11 in the second.  Clarion rebounded from a tough shooting output in the first half to fill the basket well in the second, hitting 46.2 percent of their shots in the last 20 minutes of action.

Tyra Polite scored a game-high 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-9 night from three-point range.  Jordan Bekelja came just one assist shy of her first career double-double, adding 10 points, nine assists and five rebounds in 39 minutes of action.  Jen Straw came off the bench for four points and a team-high seven boards.

The Golden Eagles trailed 18-7 after the end of the first quarter but rallied back with a 7-0 run to open the second.  Polite drained a three-pointer on the first possession of the quarter to make it 18-10 and Taylor Moltz added a trey of her own on the next trip down the court, burying one off a pass from Bekelja to cut the deficit to five points.  Polite capped the rally shortly thereafter with a pair of makes from the free throw line, making it just 18-15 with 7:29 to play in the quarter.

Polite added another triple with 1:49 left in the quarter to make it 27-22 with 1:49 left, and Bekelja cut the deficit to just two points when she tipped in an offensive rebound with 13 seconds left.  Halle Denman laid in the ball with just three ticks of the clock left to make it 29-25 at halftime.

Delrika Jones-Carey scored the first basket of the third quarter, making it just a 29-27 deficit 45 seconds into the period, but the Crimson Hawks went on a 14-4 run to go ahead 43-31 with 5:35 left in the quarter.  The lead became as great as 16 points in the fourth quarter, though, and the Crimson Hawks kept Clarion at arm's length the rest of the way to secure the win.