CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team rallied in the second quarter but were unable to push all the way over the top, ultimately falling to Slippery Rock by a final score of 68-53 at Tippin Gymnasium on Wednesday.  The Golden Eagles (7-9, 2-8 PSAC) will wrap a two-game home stand on Saturday when they host Gannon at 1 p.m.
 
Clarion trailed by as many as 15 points in the first quarter but bullied their way back into the game, cutting that large deficit into just a one-point gap in the final 20 seconds of the half.  Try as they might, though, the Golden Eagles were unable to notch the go-ahead bucket.  The Rock rallied in the third quarter, taking a double-digit lead and holding on for the remainder of the contest.
 
Yndiah Bobo had a team-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, and the freshman guard added six rebounds, three assists and three steals.  Jordan Bekelja finished with 14 points, 12 of which came in the second half, and pulled down five assists.  Taylor Moltz added nine points off coming off the bench.
 
The Rock held a 15-point lead late in the first quarter, but Neely Whitehead and Moltz knocked down three's on back-to-back possessions at the end of the period to cut the deficit to 20-9 and – more importantly – give the Golden Eagles life.  Bobo made a midrange jumper at the 8:41 mark of the second quarter to put the lead back to single digits, and Marina Kelly made it a two-possession game with a three-pointer at the 6:58 mark of the period.  Bobo pulled Clarion to within one point a little more than a minute later, making another bucket in the paint to cut it to 25-24.
 
The freshman point guard added two free throws down the stretch in the second quarter to make it 29-28 at the half, but Clarion pulled no closer the rest of the way.  Slippery Rock extended the lead to 38-28 early in the third quarter and took an 11-point edge at the end of that period.  The teams mostly traded buckets the rest of the way, with The Rock holding on for the victory.