CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team put up a strong fight in the final three quarters of action, but a tough first quarter doomed the Golden Eagles against the third-ranked team in the nation as they fell 79-54 to #3 California (Pa.) at Tippin Gymnasium. 
 
Saturday also served as Senior Night in Clarion, with Delrika Jones-Carey, Tyra Polite and Jen Straw playing the final home game of their careers.  The trio will take part in their first PSAC Tournament as the Golden Eagles clinched a playoff berth earlier this week.
 
Those seniors were the ones that delivered against the Vulcans, with Jones-Carey playing one of her best all-around games of the season.  She finished 7-of-10 from the field for 15 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals.  Polite came up just short of a double-double with 10 points, a team-high nine rebounds and three assists.  Joining them in double-digit scoring was Amesha Harden-Pullium with 12 points.
 
The Vulcans outscored Clarion 30-10 in the first quarter but things were much more even the rest of the way, with Clarion staying within 49-44 over the course of the final 30 minutes of play.  The Golden Eagles outscored California 15-13 in the second quarter and got off to a 12-6 run to start the third quarter, pulling to within 12 points on a fast break make from Polite.  Jones-Carey kept the deficit at a dozen at the 3:49 mark of the third quarter, taking a feed from Harden-Pullium and draining a midrange jumper to make it 51-39. 
 
California closed out the third period with an 11-0 run, though, to retake control of the proceedings.  The fourth quarter was close as well, with neither team making much headway over the course of the last 10 minutes.  Jordan Bekelja scored in the final seconds of the game to set the score at 79-54.
 
Clarion will close out the regular season with a pair of road games, taking on IUP and Edinboro in the final week of PSAC play.