CLARION, Pa. – Senior Tyra Polite posted the highest single-game scoring total in a Clarion uniform in more than a decade, but the Clarion women's basketball team saw their seven-game win streak snapped at home with a 67-59 loss to Mercyhurst on Friday.  The Golden Eagles (9-5, 6-2 PSAC) will be back in action at home on Monday when they host Seton Hill.
 
Polite finished with a career-high 34 points against the Lakers, tying for the fifth-highest single-game scoring total in program history and the most since Heather Cigich scored 37 points against IUP on Jan. 25, 2003.  Polite went 11-of-26 from the field, including a 6-of-17 mark from three-point range, and was 6-of-8 from the free throw line.  She also added six rebounds and three steals. 
 
Joining Polite in double-figures was Taylor Moltz, who made her second straight start and scoring in double figures for the second straight game.  Moltz added 12 points – all in the first half – on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the three-point line. 
 
The two teams traded big runs in the first two quarters before settling down in the third, with the Lakers holding a 23-10 advantage in the first period and the Golden Eagles a 26-18 edge in the second.  Clarion ended the first half on an 11-0 run, cutting what was a double-digit Mercyhurst lead down to just two possessions entering the locker room.  Polite nailed a three-pointer to cut the Lakers' advantage to 41-28 with less than two minutes remaining, and then scored a transition bucket on the next trip down the floor to make it just an 11-point game.
 
With 39 seconds left in the second quarter, Amesha Harden-Pullium drove the baseline and kicked out to Moltz in the left corner, with Moltz burying the open three-pointer to push Mercyhurst's lead to single digits.  Harden-Pullium used the exact same tactic on the next possession, and it produced the exact same results as Moltz knocked down another trey with just three seconds left in the half to make it 41-36.
 
The closest Clarion came the rest of the way was early in the third quarter, when Polite made a three-pointer to cut the lead to just 43-40.  The Lakers recovered and rebuilt a three-possession lead, this time on a jumper by Natalie Piaggesi with five seconds left.  The two teams were evenly matched in the third quarter, with Clarion closing the game on a 12-3 run to set the final deficit.