CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball cut a seven-point deficit to just a single bucket late in the fourth quarter, but the Golden Eagles ultimately fell 62-60 to Mercyhurst at the Student Recreation Center on Saturday.  The Golden Eagles (7-8, 1-7 PSAC) will be back in action on Wednesday when they go on the road to face Slippery Rock.
 
Yasmin Lewis scored a team- and career-high 21 points while also pulling down a game-high eight rebounds, with the sophomore guard shooting 10-of-16 from the field in 36 minutes of action.  Yndiah Bobo finished with 15 points, three rebounds and three assists, and Kadijah Dickson posted 12 points. 
 
The Golden Eagles won the rebounding battle 36-32 and outscored the Lakers 17-12 off turnovers.  However, the Lakers got 50 total points from their bench, including a game-high 22 from Amber Renz, and shot 5-of-13 from three-point range.
 
Clarion nearly erased a three-score deficit in the fourth quarter, cutting Mercyhurst's edge to two points on a number of occasions but never getting over the edge.  Lewis hit a jumper in the paint to make it 50-45 with 6:42 remaining in regulation, and scored on a putback at the 4:23 mark to make it 55-53.  The Lakers stretched the lead back out to six points, but Dickson responded with a make and Bobo scored a transition bucket to cut it to 59-57. 
 
The deficit stayed within hand for the rest of the game, with Lewis making a free throw to cut it to 61-58 with 16 seconds left.  Dickson scored in a tip-in in the final seconds but it was not enough as the Lakers held on for the 62-60 win.
 
The Golden Eagles used a 12-0 run to take an early edge in the first quarter, with Bobo finishing off an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 16-9.  Lewis finished the quarter with a bucket in the paint, making it 18-13 at the end of the first quarter.  The teams went back and forth in the second as the Lakers cut into the lead, with Lauren Lapertosa putting Mercyhurst up 31-29 at the break.
 
The third quarter played out much like the second, with Clarion building a six-point lead before the Lakers counterpunched.  Lewis made it 41-35 with a jumper at the 3:29 mark, but the Lakers outscored the Golden Eagles 10-2 the rest of the way to take a two-point lead at the end of the period.