CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team's comeback bid came up just short on Wednesday, as the Golden Eagles rallied but could not hold on to the lead in a 63-60 loss to Cheyney at Tippin Gymnasium.  Clarion (7-6, 2-5 PSAC) concluded its conference crossover play in the loss and start PSAC West play in earnest against Seton Hill on Saturday.
 
The Golden Eagles trailed by as many as nine points, including with just 6:50 left to go in the third quarter, but rallied back to tie the score early in the fourth.  Taylor Moltz hit a go-ahead three-pointer at the 7:23 mark to put Clarion ahead 50-47 and cap a 9-0 run, but the teams traded the lead back and forth several times down the stretch.  Yasmine Dorrielan put Cheyney ahead 61-60 with 1:09 left to play, and then added an insurance bucket with 28 seconds left to make it a three-point game.  Moltz's three-point attempt with six seconds left went off the backboard as time expired, ending the comeback chances.
 
Amesha Harden-Pullium scored a team-high 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting while also adding six rebounds, six assists and four steals.  Tracy Wiehe contributed a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes of action, while two other Golden Eagles – Jordan Bekelja (12) and Yndiah Bobo (10) scored in double figures. 
 
Clarion went on a 7-0 run early in the first quarter, coming back from an early deficit to take an 11-6 lead on a make from Wiehe.  The Lady Wolves rallied themselves, though, and eventually took a 16-11 lead at the first quarter break with a 10-0 run of their own, and kept it going with the first bucket of the second quarter as well. 
 
Cheyney led by a score of 34-35 late in the second quarter, but Bobo scored a transition bucket with 1:08 to play to cut it to seven points, and Harden-Pullium did the same with one second left in the half to make it 34-29 at halftime.  The Golden Eagles came close to breaking through several times in the third quarter, cutting it to 47-45 on a Harden-Pullium basket with 40 seconds left to go.  Moltz finally put them over the hump but the Golden Eagles were unable to hold off the feisty Cheyney squad.