ERIE, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team returned a significant piece from injury today, but was unable to overcome one of the toughest teams in the PSAC in falling 90-50 to the Mercyhurst Lakers on the road on Saturday.  The Golden Eagles (13-10, 10-7) will return to Clarion for three straight home games.
 
Tyra Polite came close to a double-double against the Lakers, finishing with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds while also adding three assists and two blocked shots.  Delrika Jones-Carey was not far behind her with totals of nine points and six boards.  Amesha Harden-Pullium had the team-high with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
 
Mercyhurst controlled the tide of the game with an electric shooting performance in the first half, going 8-of-11 from three-point range and finishing 62.5 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.  The only Golden Eagle lead came on the first makes of the game, when Jordan Bekelja made two free throws less than a minute into play to put her team ahead 2-0.  The Lakers took it from there, embarking on a 10-0 run to put the Golden Eagles behind the eight-ball.
 
Clarion trailed 25-14 at the end of the first quarter but briefly pulled within a handful of possessions in the second quarter, starting with a jumper by Bekelja 19 seconds into the period.  Harden-Pullium scored in the paint to make it 25-18 with 8:00 left in the half, and later drained a three-pointer to keep the score within 28-21.  Mercyhurst responded with a 16-1 run, though, taking a 44-22 lead with 2:34 left in the half, and entered the locker room at the half leading 52-26.
 
The deficit hovered around 25 points throughout most of the third quarter, but the Lakers kept the pressure on and stretched it to 30 early in the fourth.    The final deficit reached 40 points on the final possession of the game, after a made free throw by Mercyhurst.