SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team held off a rally to get back on the winning track, defeating Slippery Rock 85-83 on the road on Wednesday night.  The Golden Eagles (10-6, 7-3 PSAC) have now topped their wins total from a season ago and have won eight of their last 10 games.
 
Tyra Polite scored a team-high 24 points, including a 6-of-12 mark from three-point range, and Amesha Harden-Pullium was just behind her with 20 points on the night.  Jordan Bekelja scored 13 points and added six points and three assists.  Ashley Deleonibus finished just one point shy of a double-double, notching nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
Clarion shut down the Rock's offensive effort in the second half, holding Slippery Rock to a 34.6 field goal percentage in the last 20 minutes of action.  The Golden Eagles won the battle on the boards 45-35, and led by as many as 10 points in the second half.
 
The Rock led by eight points at the end of the first quarter, with Lexi Carpenter draining a three-pointer at the end of the period to set a 25-17 lead over the Golden Eagles.  The lead reached 11 points before Clarion chipped away and came back, with Jen Straw making it a two-possession game with a pair of free throws at the 3:37 mark.  Bekelja hit a three-pointer with 2:22 left to cut it to two points, and Delrika Jones-Carey put the Golden Eagles ahead 40-39 with a make in the paint inside the final minute of the second quarter, a lead that carried over into the halftime break.
 
Bekelja wasted no time putting the Golden Eagles further ahead in the third quarter, draining a three-pointer on the very first possession to make it a two-score game.  It stayed that way until the 2:54 mark of the period, until Amesha Harden-Pullium made a pair of free throws to make it 53-48.  Deleonibus scored on a putback to make it a seven-point game with 1:28 left in the third, and Straw scored again to make it 60-50 entering the fourth quarter.
 
Slippery Rock pulled to within one possession early in the fourth quarter and stayed there for the most part, but the Golden Eagles never allowed them to retake the lead.  Bekelja knocked down a trey with 2:43 left to make it a 74-68 but The Rock to within 82-80 with just 0:28 remaining in regulation.  Carpenter cut it to 84-83 with 0:15 left, but Maniah Robinson pulled down a key defensive rebound on Slippery Rock's last offensive possession to seal the win.