SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Clarion women's basketball team shook off a slow start to the first half with a strong open to the second, but the Golden Eagles were unable to make up the necessary ground in falling 76-58 to Slippery Rock on Wednesday.  The Golden Eagles (4-18, 2-14 PSAC) will stay on the road this weekend when they face off with Mercyhurst.
 
Yasmin Lews scored a team-high 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field, while Emily Hegedus recorded a team-high 12 rebounds.  Neely Whitehead brought a spark off the bench with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including a 2-of-4 performance from three-point range.
 
Clarion shot 22-of-66 from the field but shot a respectable 9-of-24 from three-point range, while the Rock finished 43.6 percent overall from the field.  Slippery Rock outrebounded Clarion 47-34 and held a huge advantage at the free throw line.
 
The Golden Eagles trailed 40-22 at the break but rebounded with a strong effort in the second half, starting with a third quarter that saw them go toe-to-toe with The Rock.  Lewis scored the first four points of the period for Clarion on midrange jumpers, and Ke'Airah Massiah cut the lead to 18 points with a pair of free throw makes at the 6:22 mark.  The teams traded buckets for the next several minutes, with Emily Hegedus scoring at the 3:48 mark to make it 51-34.  Lewis reached double-digits for the game with a two-point jumper with 2:33 remaining, and then made two free throws down the stretch to make it 56-38 through three periods.
 
Clarion started the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run as Olivia Boocks made a three-pointer just 34 seconds into the period, and Whitehead added a layup less than a minute later to keep things going.  Boocks added a midrange jumper, and Whitehead cut the lead to 60-48 with a three-pointer of her own at the 7:38 mark.  Boocks again cut the lead to 12 points with a trey at the 6:45 mark, but the Rock re-took the advantage for the quarter with a 13-4 run to build a 76-55 lead en route to the win.