CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle women's basketball team held close for a time but could ultimately not keep pace with Cal U on Wednesday night, with Clarion (3-12, 2-8 PSAC) falling by a 71-47 score to the Vulcans in Tippin Gym. Clarion looked strong in the opening minutes of action before the Vulcans pulled away for the win.
 
Sierra Bermudez continued her torrid scoring pace, scoring a team-high 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. She has now scored 13 or more points in five of her last six games, and cracked 20 points for the fifth time this season. She entered the evening ranked ninth in the PSAC in scoring.
 
Teammate and fellow freshman Cory Santoro ranked 21^st on that same list and also continued her own hot streak, scoring 11 points for her sixth straight double-digit scoring game.
 
In the early going, the Golden Eagles held the Vulcans to difficult shots and kept things relatively even. Santoro opened the scoring with a 12-footer from the right side, and Bermudez gave Clarion a 5-3 lead with a long three-pointer from the corner. Cal U settled down on offense, though, and quickly took a double-digit lead, ending the quarter on a 16-8 run.
 
Clarion was quick to pull back within two possessions at the start of the second quarter, starting when Bermudez stole the ball from Ciaira Loyd and going the other way for a fast break layup. That made the score 21-15 in favor of the Vulcans, and would unfortunately be as close as the Golden Eagles got the rest of the way. Bermudez struck again near the end of the first half, hitting a three-pointer to make it 33-23, but Halle Herrington scored with 15 seconds left in the second quarter to make it a 12-point game at the break.
 
The Vulcans slowly expanded their lead from there, going up by 20 points three minutes into the third quarter. Siara Conley scored four points down the stretch in the fourth quarter, including two free throws with eight seconds remaining to set the final deficit.