SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team rallied in the fourth quarter but could not quite make it all the way back, falling to Slippery Rock 74-64 on Saturday afternoon.  The Golden Eagles (7-17, 2-16 PSAC) will close out the home portion of the schedule next week when they host IUP and Edinboro at Tippin Gymnasium.
 
Despite trailing by a significant margin after three quarters the Golden Eagles did not give up, outscoring The Rock 22-10 in the fourth quarter.  This came in part because Clarion won the rebounding battle 40-39, including 15 offensive boards.  While the Golden Eagles shot just 34.4 percent as a team, they went 9-of-22 (.409) from three-point range.
 
Amesha Harden-Pullium had a game-high 21 points on 5-of-14 shooting, and was an efficient 9-of-11 from the free throw line.  Taylor Moltz had a big day, going 6-of-8 for 17 points, and Tracy Wiehe came off the bench for 10 points and six rebounds.  Yasmin Lewis led the Golden Eagles with 10 rebounds.
 
The two teams were fairly even in the first quarter, with Clarion tying the game at 9-9 less than five minutes in thanks to a three-pointer from Harden-Pullium.  Jordan Bekelja made a midrange jumper to cut The Rock's lead to 12-11, and eventually the Golden Eagles tied the game at 20 early in the second quarter after two free throws from Tracy Wiehe.  Harden-Pullium made two free throws to tie it at 24 with 5:13 left in the first half, but the Golden Eagles got no closer the rest of the game as Slippery Rock began to pull away.  The Rock held a 44-30 lead at the halftime break and eventually built a lead as great as 24 points.
 
However, Clarion dominated the last 7:54 of action, outscoring the Rock 20-8 in that span.  Neely Whitehead made a layup thanks to a Bekelja assist to make it 66-54, capping a 10-0 run, and the true freshman guard made a three-pointer with three seconds remaining to set the final deficit.