CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team bid farewell to its two seniors on Saturday afternoon while giving a nationally-ranked team a serious challenge, but the Golden Eagles fell 72-60 to the #17/16 Cal U Vulcans at the Student Recreation Center. Clarion finishes its season with a 9-19 overall record, including a 3-18 mark in PSAC play.
 
Seniors Jordan Bekelja and Taylor Moltz were recognized in a pregame ceremony, and the two nearly delivered a victory in their final games in the Blue & Gold.  Bekelja finished with nine points, four rebounds and three assists, while Moltz contributed two points, three boards and a steal.
 
The visiting Vulcans built an early lead over the Golden Eagles but were never able to pull away, with Clarion keeping the game within seven points with two minutes to go in regulation.  The Golden Eagles outrebounded Cal U 41-33 and forced 17 turnovers, though they also committed 24 giveaways themselves.
 
Kadijah Dickson finished with 15 points on 6-of-12 from the field and also added eight rebounds, four steals and three assists.  Yndiah Bobo tied Dickson with eight rebounds while also scoring 13 points and dishing out five assists.  Yasmin Lewis came up just one point and one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds.
 
The first quarter saw the two teams stay within arm's reach of one another, with the Vulcans leading by as many as five points.  Bobo and Lewis added back-to-back buckets to cut that lead to one point, and Emily Hegedus scored with 30 seconds left to make it a one-point game.  Bobo knocked down a midrange jumper in the final seconds of the period to cut Cal U's lead to 16-14. 
 
The Vulcans built their lead up to 11 points at the halftime break thanks to a 23-14 scoring advantage in the second quarter, and the lead remained in double-digits throughout the third.  The Golden Eagles came out swinging in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead back to a handful of possessions late.  Bobo scored with 4:46 remaining to pull within 63-53, and Hegedus scored after a steal by Dickson to make it 63-55. 
 
Bekelja buried a three-pointer from the corner with 1:59 left to make it a seven-point game, but the Vulcans were nearly perfect from the free throw line down the stretch to secure the win.