WILMINGTON, Del. – The Clarion women's basketball team rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat Wilmington on Wednesday, as the Golden Eagles downed the Wildcats 74-69 at the WU Athletics Complex.  Clarion (2-1) will open PSAC play this weekend with doubleheaders against East Stroudsburg and West Chester.
 
Two Clarion players went off for double-doubles, with Jordan Bekelja leading the Golden Eagles with 20 points and 11 assists.  The junior guard also added five steals and five rebounds.  Tracy Wiehe had her second double-double of the season with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.   Amesha Harden-Pullium contributed 14 points in a team-high 39 minutes of action, while Taylor Moltz came off the bench for 16 points.
 
The Golden Eagles shot just 32.4 percent from the field in the first half as the Wildcats took a 39-29 advantage, but it was all Clarion in the third quarter.  Clarion outscored Wilmington 45-30 in the second half, including a 21-9 edge in the third quarter and a three-point advantage in the final 10 minutes of action.
 
The Wildcats briefly held the lead in the fourth quarter, taking a 55-52 advantage on a three-pointer by Lashyra Williams.  Moltz countered with a trey of her own, scoring off a steal and an assist by Bekelja to knot it up at 55.  Bekelja tacked on her own transition bucket to put her team ahead 57-55, and Moltz capped the 7-0 run with a make in the paint at 59-55. 
 
It would not be the only long run for the Golden Eagles in the fourth quarter.  The Wildcats pulled to within 59-57 before a 9-2 run by Clarion sealed their fate, with Wiehe capping the run with a layup.  Harden-Pullium kept it a nine-point advantage with a bucket to up the lead to 70-61, and the Golden Eagles held off a last gasp from Wilmington for the win.
 
Clarion had a lot of ground to make up in the third quarter to get them to that point, though.  Bekelja cut Wilmington's lead to seven points with a three-pointer early in the period, and Wiehe scored in the paint to cut it to 39-34.  Harden-Pullium knocked down a three-pointer at the 2:39 mark of the third quarter to put her team up 45-44, and Wiehe tacked on another bucket with a minute to play in the third to set the score at 50-48 after 30 minutes of action.