SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team led from beginning to end in winning their first conference game of the season, defeating Shippensburg 65-59 on the road on Sunday to even their overall record. 
 
The Golden Eagles (4-4, 1-3 PSAC) will return home for a non-conference tilt with Penn State – Greater Allegheny on Wednesday, December 6.  Tip-off is set for 11 a.m.
 
Clarion never trailed throughout 40 minutes, and the only time when the game was tied was in the few seconds before the Golden Eagles scored their first bucket of the day.  They outscored the Raiders 18-7 in the first quarter and led by 15 points at the break.  Though Shippensburg outscored Clarion in each of the subsequent two periods, never were they able to muster enough to climb over the top.
 
Amesha Harden-Pullium finished with a team-high 21 points and was especially effective at the free throw line, where she went 12-of-14.  Jordan Bekelja was right behind her, notching 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting (3-of-4 from three-point range) and a perfect 6-of-6 day at the charity stripe.  The junior guard also led the team in rebounding with seven caroms on the afternoon.
 
As said before, the only time the game was tied was in the first 1:29, before Harden-Pullium opened the scoring for either team with a bucket off a turnover at the 8:31 mark.  That kicked off a 9-3 run for Clarion, who kept the Raiders off the scoreboard for more than four minutes to start the game.  Tracy Wiehe laid one in at the 4:04 mark to make it 9-3, and Tynita White expanded the lead to 11 points when she scored to make it 16-5.  White kept the deficit at 11 points at the end of the first quarter, taking a pass from Yndiah Bobo and making a midrange jumper to set the score at 18-7.
 
The Golden Eagles' largest lead of the afternoon came late in the second quarter, when Bekelja drilled a three-pointer with 2:41 left in the half to make it 27-11.  Wiehe kept the deficit there 40 seconds later with a jumper, and Bekelja closed out the first half with a transition bucket to give Clarion a 31-16 halftime lead.
 
Shippensburg wouldn't go down without a fight, though, cutting the lead to single digits with 4:24 left in the third quarter and at one point pulling within five points.  Clarion held them off in the third, though, with Harden-Pullium making two free throws at the end of the period to make it 46-38. The Raiders' Ariel Jones made a three-pointer with 1:07 left in the game to pull her team with 57-56, but free throws down the stretch were key as the Golden Eagles kept Shippensburg at bay.