ERIE, Pa. – For the second straight game the Clarion women's basketball team gave a nationally-ranked foe everything they could handle, but the Golden Eagles ran out of steam late in falling 67-58 to #17/22 Gannon on the road. Clarion (1-4) returns home on Monday to host Bryant & Stratton at Tippin Gym.
 
The two teams previously played on Thursday night, with many of the broader details remaining the same 48 hours later. Clarion and Gannon slugged it out for most of the game, trading baskets and forcing turnovers until the Golden Knights eventually pulled ahead. Despite the final deficit, the teams were separated by only two possessions until there were only 20 seconds remaining
 
Ke'Airah Massiah went off for 18 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field, while Abby Gatesman recorded 10 points and seven rebounds in a strong night on both ends of the floor. Olivia Boocks posted 13 points off the bench thanks in large part to a 3-of-6 night shooting from beyond the arc.
 
One could be forgiven if they turned on the game and thought they were watching a replay of Thursday's contest, as the start of Saturday afternoon's game played out similarly to the earlier contest in Tippin Gym. The Golden Eagles used a strong press in the backcourt to keep the Golden Knights' offense out of sync, save for Sam Pirosko, who scored 21 points in the first half. Clarion's offense was more diverse in the early going, with Gatesman contributing eight points through the early portion of the first half. She knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to start the second quarter, with the latter putting Clarion ahead 18-15 at the 8:57 mark.
 
Gannon responded with nine straight points as the Golden Eagles went on a four-plus minute scoring drought, a run that was broken when Olivia Boocks knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing on a kickout from Emily Hegedus. Allyson Kirby added a three-pointer to cut Gannon's lead to one point late in the second quarter, but the Golden Knights countered with a 6-0 run to build the lead to multiple possessions.
 
Clarion quickly made that deficit up in the third quarter, with Massiah erasing the Golden Knights' lead on an and-one play and tying the score at 39 at the 6:17 mark. Massiah continued to pump it in from around the court, making a three at the 2:55 mark of the third quarter and laying it in with 2:02 left to put the Golden Eagles ahead. Olivia Boocks caught fire from the field as well, at one point scoring 11 of Clarion's points in a row. The last make was a two-point jumper with 4:42 left in the fourth quarter, cutting Gannon's lead to 56-54. The Golden Knights clamped down defensively from there, holding the Golden Eagles without a field goal until Neely Whitehead hit a three with 30 seconds remaining. That cut Gannon's lead to four points, but the Golden Knights closed it out with a strong performance at the free throw line.