CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle women's basketball team was within two possessions with just 10 minutes to play, but Clarion was unable to complete their comeback attempt in falling 69-48 to Malone at Tippin Gymnasium on Wednesday.  Clarion (1-6, 0-2 PSAC) will be back in action next week when they travel to take on Ohio Valley.
 
The Golden Eagles cut a 12-point third-quarter deficit to just six in the final 96 econds of action, starting with a free throw by Celeste Ryman that made it 41-32.  Olivia Boocks drained a three-pointer with 58 ticks remaining, pulling down a defensive rebound and taking it the other way for the trey to make it a six-point game at the period break.  Ke'Airah Massiah pulled Clarion as close as five points with a make in the fourth quarter, but the Pioneers responded with a 10-0 run to essentially put the result out of reach.
 
Boocks provided much of the Golden Eagle scoring fireworks on Wednesday, scoring a team-high 14 points thanks to a 4-of-7 day from beyond the three-point arc.  Yasmin Lewis also broke double figures with 10 points, and also tied for the game-high with seven rebounds.  Massiah recorded nine points and four rebounds.
 
Neither side had much offensive traction in the first quarter, with the teams combining for just 14 total points in the first 10 minutes.  Lewis made a jumper from the head of the key to cut the Pioneers' lead to 6-5, but Malone's Madison Hunter scored with 35 seconds left to give her team an 8-6 lead.  Boocks led Clarion's first rally in the second quarter, making a fast break trey at the 4:24 mark to cut the deficit to 19-17, but Malone embarked on a 10-2 run to make it a double-digit lead at the halftime break.
 
Clarion cut that lead to two possessions by the end of the third period, but the Pioneers took things back under control and slowly expanded the lead.  Things got chippy near the end of regulation as both sides were whistled for technical fouls in the final seconds of action.