ERIE, Pa. – Amesha Harden-Pullium set a career-high in scoring for the second straight game, but the Clarion women's basketball team dropped a 79-62 road decision at Mercyhurst on Monday.  The Golden Eagles (7-8, 2-7 PSAC) will have a quick turnaround, as they'll host Slippery Rock at Tippin Gymnasium on Wednesday.
 
Harden-Pullium shot 8-of-18 from the field for 26 points, knocking down 4-of-10 shots from the three-point line, and also pulled down five rebounds.  Tracy Wiehe added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, and Jordan Bekelja added six points and five assists.
 
Mercyhurst won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding Clarion by a 46-28 margin.  That led in part to an advantage in points in the paint, where the Lakers held a 44-18 advantage.  Clarion shot the ball from the three-point line well in the first half, firing away at a 46.2 percent clip, but things slowed down in the second half.
 
Clarion responded to a sluggish first quarter with an exceptional second, outscoring the Lakers 18-10 in the second period to pull within three points at the halftime break.  The Golden Eagles trailed by 11 points after the first quarter but Harden-Pullium cut that deficit to single digits with a layup 30 seconds into the quarter.  The deficit was still 10 points with 3:05 to go, but Bekelja cut it to 33-27 with a three-pointer at the two-minute mark.  She added another trey with 53 seconds to go in the half, pulling the Golden Eagles to within 33-30 entering the locker room.
 
The Golden Eagles rallied further in the third quarter, eventually tying the game at 40 with 4:21 left in the period after a three-pointer from Harden-Pullium.  The Lakers exploded for a 12-0 run, though, and eventually went into the fourth quarter with a 54-41 lead.  The lead expanded from there, and ultimately Mercyhurst claimed the 79-62 advantage.