Box Score

EDINBORO, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team played neck-and-neck with the 17^th-ranked team in the nation for more than a half, but ultimately the Golden Eagles lost by a 77-51 score to Edinboro on the road on Wednesday.  The Golden Eagles (7-11, 2-10 PSAC) will take on another nationally-ranked opponent this weekend when they go back on the road to face IUP on Saturday.
 
Though things slipped away late in the game, the first three quarters between the Golden Eagles and the Fighting Scots were anything but a runaway.  The score was knotted up at 31 until Edinboro tacked on two buckets late in the second quarter, and the deficit was still in the single digits late in the third until four straight points by the Fighting Scots.
 
Amesha Harden-Pullium racked up 19 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the field, while Jordan Bekelja added 10 points, a team-high eight points and four assists.  The junior guard also added two steals and a block in 40 minutes of action.  Tracy Wiehe came off the bench for eight points and two blocks.
 
Clarion and Edinboro were never separated by more than a few possessions in the first quarter, and even though the Fighting Scots opened on a 10-3 run, things never really got out of hand.  Bekelja cut the lead to 10-5 on a jumper and Yasmin Lewis knocked down a jumper of her own to make it 10-7.  With 5:09 left to go in the first quarter, Taylor Moltz made one of her patented transition three-pointers to tie the score at 10, and Wiehe scored in the paint on the next trip down the floor to tie it again.
 
The Golden Eagles trailed 21-17 entering the second quarter but opened the period on an 8-0 run, taking the lead on a three-pointer from Harden-Pullium.  The senior guard knocked down another trey on the next possession, giving Clarion a 25-21 lead at the 7:16 mark, and she added one more less than a minute later to keep it a four-point advantage.  Jontay Walton touched off a 7-0 run at the 3:37 mark as Edinboro finished off the half, and the Fighting Scots led 36-31 at the break.
 
The Fighting Scots built their lead up to 11 points during the early portion of the third quarter, but Bekelja and Harden-Pullium knocked down three-pointers to cut it to 42-36 with 5:59 remaining.  Lewis made a midrange jumper to keep it a six-point deficit, but Edinboro outpaced Clarion the rest of the way to take a 58-46 lead.  Edinboro finished it off in the fourth quarter, sealing the game by a 77-51 final.