CLARION, Pa. – What was dominant effort to start turned into a frantic race to the finish on Saturday evening, as the Clarion women's basketball team held off a second-half charge to win 78-74 over Pitt-Johnstown at Tippin Gymnasium.  The Golden Eagles (13-8, 10-5 PSAC) now face two straight games on the road, starting with a trip to Seton Hill on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
 
Clarion dominated the first half of play, opening the game on a 20-1 run and leading 52-35 after 20 minutes of action.  The Lady Cats roared back in the second half, though, cutting the Golden Eagles' lead to just 73-73 with 1:40 remaining in regulation.  The Golden Eagles buckled down, though, getting stops down the stretch and making their free throws to secure the win. 
 
All five Clarion starters reached double figures in scoring, and that same five carried the heavy load of action, with all of them playing 29 or more minutes despite dealing with foul trouble.  That included a pair of double-doubles, with Jen Straw notching 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, and Delrika Jones-Carey contributing 16 points and 13 boards.
 
Jordan Bekelja played all 40 minutes and added 15 points and four assists to the effort.  Tyra Polite tied for the game-high with 20 points.  Rounding out those in double-digits was Amesha Harden-Pullium, who had 16 points, three assists and two steals.
 
The Lady Cats were held without a field goal for nearly the first five minutes of action as Clarion exploded to a 20-1 lead, with Harden-Pullium punctuating the run with a layup at the 6:05 mark.  Jones-Carey made it 21-4 with a free throw at the 5:09 mark, and though the lead briefly dipped under double-digits, the Golden Eagles took a 25-15 lead by the end of the first quarter.  It seemed the ship had been righted for good midway through the second as Bekelja made it 39-22 with 4:25 left in the half.  Tynita White tacked on a free throw to boost the lead to 49-31, and Polite drained a three-pointer just before the break to give Clarion a 52-35 edge heading into the locker room.
 
The lead fell into single-digits again at the 3:53 mark of the third quarter, after a jumper by Jamie Tabon cut Clarion's advantage to 54-46.  The Golden Eagles led by just six points at the end of the quarter and watched their lead dwindle to just one point with under two minutes remaining.  They got a key stop with 58 seconds left when Polite stood up Tabon on a drive and forced a traveling violation, and Polite buried a free throw with 22 seconds left to make it a 76-72 lead.  Laurel O'Barto scored with 18 seconds left to cut it to 76-74, but Polite knocked down two free throws down the stretch to finish things off.