CLARION, Pa. – It was a dogfight until the very end but the Clarion women's basketball team was unable to overcome a tough afternoon shooting the basketball in falling 74-68 to the Edinboro Fighting Scots at Tippin Gymnasium on Saturday.  With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 6-11 overall and 6-5 in Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference play.
 
Three Golden Eagles topped double-figures in scoring, led by a 20-point effort from Tyra Polite, while Tania Holmes added 18 points and nine rebounds.  Rounding out the trio was Jordan Bekelja, who added 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in all 40 minutes of action.
 
However, Clarion struggled on the whole to find a consistent offensive rhythm, finishing 21-of-58 from the field for a 35.7 field goal percentage.  Edinboro had the advantage in three-pointer shooting in particular, going 8-of-19 (.421) while the Golden Eagles went 9-of-30 (.300) from the long line.
 
Rebounding between the two teams was close, with the Fighting Scots holding a 42-40 edge.  Edinboro's Aignee' Freeland and Clarion's Jen Straw tied for the game-high with 10 boards apiece.  Holmes came just one carom shy of that mark herself, finishing with nine.
 
The Golden Eagles' best chance at the comeback came in the fourth quarter when they pulled to within four points with under three minutes to play.  Delrika Jones-Carey made a pair of free throws at the 2:44 mark to cut the Fighting Scots' lead to just 66-62, and the junior forward added another two tosses from the charity stripe to make it 68-64 with 2:08 to play.  Edinboro's Lauren Hippo responded with a three-pointer from the corner on the next trip down the floor, though, making it a three-possession game.
 
Polite made a runner with 20 seconds left to cut the Fighting Scot advantage to just six points, and Bekelja made a layup in transition with 13 seconds left to cut it to 74-68.  The Golden Eagles were unable to steal the inbounds pass, though, and ultimately dropped the contest by that same margin.
 
Clarion briefly held the lead midway through the third quarter, battling back from what was at one point a nine-point deficit to take a three-point lead.  Polite made a pair of free throws to tie the score at 46 with 4:58 to go in the second half and then proceeded to drill a three-pointer on the next possession to put her team ahead 49-46.  Katie Fischer rallied Edinboro back, though, leading them on a 12-0 run to take a nine-point edge with 1:08 left in the quarter.
 
The Fighting Scots leapt out to a nine-point lead with 5:02 to play in the first quarter and only once let that first half edge slip, with Straw tying the game with a free throw with 53 seconds left in the half to make it 31-31.  Edinboro scored five straight to close out the second quarter and held a 36-31 lead at the break.