ERIE, Pa. – Despite three players scoring in double figures and a fairly even night statistically, the Golden Eagle women's basketball team was unable to come away with the win on the road, falling 58-48 to Mercyhurst at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
 
Clarion (2-8) saw Devon Adams come up just two rebounds shy of a double-double, as the junior post player notched 14 points and eight rebounds in just 27 minutes of action. Abby Gatesman was just behind her with 12 points and five boards, while Emily Brown came off the bench for 10 points and four rebounds.
 
A cursory look at the box score would show that the two teams were fairly even over the course of 40 minutes, much as they were in their meeting earlier this week. Clarion held a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and trailed by just four points at the end of the third quarter. It was the fourth when the Lakers pulled away, outscoring the Golden Eagles 18-12 in the final 10 minutes for the win. The biggest difference came in points off turnovers, where Mercyhurst held an 18-11 advantage.
 
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter, with Ke'Airah Massiah finishing off a run with a three-pointer at the 7:06 mark. Adams made it 7-2 with a jumper in the paint off a feed from Emily Hegedus, and Olivia Boocks came off the bench for a make at the 5:26 mark to finish off the 9-2 run. Things tightened the rest of the way with the Lakers taking the lead early in the second quarter. Gatesman put her team ahead 15-14 with a jumper at 6:37, a bucket that sparked another Golden Eagle run. Brown wrapped that run with a three-pointer at the 4:40 mark, making it a 20-15 lead.
 
Clarion once again worked to take the lead in the third quarter, with Adams making it 31-29 after a free throw. The Lakers responded with an 11-0 run, with Clarion not scoring again until a transition bucket from Brown with 35 seconds left in the quarter. She knocked down a three-pointer at the end of the period to cut the lead to 40-36, but the Golden Eagles got no closer the rest the way.
 
The final two games on Clarion's schedule are set for next weekend, a home set with Mount Aloysius. The Golden Eagles will host on Friday, March 5 at 5:30 p.m. and conclude their season two days later, with a 1 p.m. tip on March 7.