MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Golden Eagle women's basketball team put on a defensive clinic in their PSAC opener on Friday night, with Clarion defeating Millersville 53-34 at Pucillo Gymnasium. Clarion (2-4, 1-0 PSAC) held the Marauders to an anemic 24.5 shooting percentage, grinding it out for an impressive road win.
 
Jada Smith posted one of the most dominant two-way performances in recent Clarion history, scoring a game-high 19 points while also recording a game- and career-high 18 rebounds. It was the best single-game rebounding mark for a Golden Eagle since Delrika Jones-Carey pulled down 18 rebounds on Jan. 6, 2016 against Kutztown.
 
Smith's performance reflected what was a strong night on the glass for the Golden Eagles. Clarion out-rebounded Millersville 44-26, recording nearly as many offensive rebounds (10) as the Marauders had defensive (18).
 
The Marauders shot just 13-of-53 from the field, while the Golden Eagles went 18-of-45 for a 40.0 field goal percentage. Cory Santoro, Abby Gatesman and Sierra Bermudez all chipped in eight points, while Olivia Boocks added six points and seven rebounds.
 
Clarion outscored the Marauders in all four quarters of play, bookending the game with their best performances in the first and fourth quarters. In fact, the Golden Eagles rather inauspiciously took the lead for good less than five minutes into the contest, when Santoro hit a midrange jumper to make it a 5-4 lead. She followed that up with a jumper in the paint to make it 7-4, and Boocks wrapped up the 9-0 run with a three-pointer at the 2:49 mark.
 
There the score would remain for the rest of the first period, but the deficit creeped up through the second quarter as the Golden Eagles took a double-digit advantage. Smith made it 21-10 with a pair of free throws, and she put the lead back to 10 points at the 2:31 mark with a pair of free throws. Millersville pulled to within two possessions late in the first half, but Smith scored with three seconds remaining to make it 25-16 at the break.  
 
The Golden Eagles embarked on an 11-1 run early in the third quarter to really start putting the game out of reach. Boocks drained a three at the 7:39 mark to make it 32-19, and Smith scored a minute later to make it 36-19. The Marauders did draw the game back into single digits with 2:06 remaining in the third, but Sierra Bermudez hit a trey with 56 seconds remaining to once again make it a 10-point contest. It never got to single-digits again as the Golden Eagle defense locked the Marauders down, holding them without a point until there was just a minute remaining in regulation.