CLARION, Pa. – After a tight first half where neither team was able to gain separation from the other, the Clarion women's basketball team fell to the California (Pa.) Vulcans 77-57 at Tippin Gymnasium on Saturday.  The Golden Eagles drop to 7-15 overall, 7-9 in Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference play. 
 
Jordan Bekelja and Delrika Jones-Carey tied for the team-high with 11 points apiece, while Jen Straw came off the bench for a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.  Straw went 4-of-8 from the field in 27 minutes of action and also recorded two steals.  Jones-Carey was just behind her on the glass, finishing with eight rebounds.  Tania Holmes had nine points and seven rebounds.
 
Neither team could get much going in the first quarter of action as the Golden Eagles shot 26.7 percent from the field and the Vulcans just 28.6 percent.  The game opened up as time went on, though, and the Vulcans finished with a 46.6 field goal percentage.  Clarion won the rebounding battle 40-38 but struggled in transition, getting outscored 22-6 in fast break points.
 
The Golden Eagles led for much of the first quarter, holding the advantage in a defensive battle with the Vulcans in the opening 10 minutes.  Holmes put Clarion ahead 3-2 with a three-pointer to start the proceedings, and the advantage reached 5-2 after Jones-Carey made a midrange jumper at the 6:18 mark of the period.  California was unable to take the advantage themselves until the 2:30 mark, going ahead on a pair of free throws by Seairra Barrett, but Tyra Polite put Clarion back ahead with a jumper at the 1:51 mark.  Bekelja drove for a layup with 1:11 left in the quarter to put the Golden Eagles ahead 9-8 but California scored the final four points of the period to lead 12-9 at the break.
 
Things remained close for much of the second quarter as well, though the Golden Eagles never quite got over the hump to retake the lead.  Bekelja scored a transition bucket with 6:19 left in the half to cut it to 18-17 but California responded with four straight points to build a two-possession lead; Straw made a hook shot in the paint with 2:32 left to again cut it to one point.  Shatara Parsons made it a three-possession game on the Vulcans' final possession of the half, scoring in the paint off a feed from Miki Glenn to make it 35-27 at the break.
 
The deficit was as small as six points the rest of the game, with Holmes making a three-pointer to cut it to 46-40 with 4:01 left in the third quarter, but the Vulcans kept it a double-digit game for the final 13:27 to complete the win.