JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Making up a game originally meant to be played three days prior, the Clarion women's basketball team lit it up from the field in downing the Pitt-Johnstown Lady Cats 82-73 on Monday night.  With the win, the Golden Eagles improve to 7-13 overall and even their PSAC record at 7-7.
 
Clarion shot 28-of-56 (.500) from the field, including an impressive 60.9 percent in the second half of play, and went a sizzling 8-of-16 from three-point range against the Lady Cats.  Comparatively, the Golden Eagles held the Lady Cats to just a 30.0 field goal percentage in the second half.  Clarion out-rebounded Pitt-Johnstown 32-31. 
 
The teams traded leads for much of the game, with the Golden Eagles taking the lead for good early in the fourth quarter on a 16-0 run that flipped the script from a four-point deficit to a 12-point advantage. 
 
Tyra Polite scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, including a sterling 4-of-6 mark from three-point range.  Jordan Bekelja recorded her first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 11 assists compared to just three turnovers on the night.  Ashley DeLeonibus had the best game of her Clarion career against the Lady Cats, scoring 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 23 minutes of action.
 
Pitt-Johnstown led 63-59 with 8:47 to go in regulation but Polite put Clarion back ahead with five straight points, scoring on a layup at the 8:27 mark to cut it to one possession and draining a three-pointer on the next trip down the floor to put her team ahead 64-63.  Polite drilled a trey to make it 69-63 and made it a 10-point game with a layup at the 5:33 mark.  DeLeonibus closed out the big run when she took an inside feed from Tania Holmes and laid it in to make it 75-63.
 
The Lady Cats pulled to within six points with 0:29 remaining but Bekelja added a pair of free throws to keep it a three-score game.  Amesha Harden-Pulliam went 3-of-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to help clinch the win.
 
The two teams battled closely in the first quarter, with Pitt-Johnstown taking a 13-5 lead with 6:01 left on a three-pointer from Kayla DeCriscio.  Clarion went on an 11-0 run to take the advantage right back, though, with Harden-Pulliam scoring with 2:15 left to make it a 14-13 edge.  Jen Straw closed the run with a pair of free throws on the next trip down the floor, and DeLeonibus put Clarion ahead 18-15 at the end of the quarter with two free tosses of her own.
 
Pitt-Johnstown led by as many as five points in the second quarter as well, but Bekelja took a pass from Delrika Jones-Carey and drained a trey to make it a 39-35 advantage with 2:46 left in the quarter.  Harden-Pulliam made it 43-37 with less than a minute remaining, and the Golden Eagles held on for the 43-41 lead at the halftime break.  The Lady Cats made up the difference in the third quarter, though, and tied the score at 59 at the end of the period.