ERIE, Pa. – The Golden Eagle women's basketball team struggled against one of the conference's best teams on the road on Wednesday night, falling by an 81-50 score to Gannon at the Hammermill Center. Clarion (3-15, 2-11 PSAC) got the offense going after the first quarter, but could not close the gap against the Golden Knights.
 
The Golden Eagles could not quite get into the offensive flow of things in the first quarter, shooting poorly from the field in the first 10 minutes of action before picking things up for the remainder of the game. Clarion shot a solid 18-of-43 (.419) from the field from the second quarter onward, but that was not enough to overcome the their slow start. Conversely, Gannon started the game strong from the field and improved from there, taking the lead early on and expanding it as time went on.
 
Cory Santoro led the Golden Eagles with 14 points, while Sierra Bermudez chipped in 11 points of her own. Jada Smith had seven points and a team-high five rebounds. Olivia Boocks came off the bench to toss in five points.
 
Gannon got rolling early in the game, responding to Smith's game-opening bucket at the 7:18 mark with 23 unanswered. Clarion got back on the scoreboard with 16 seconds remaining, with Charjae Brock making a jumper in the paint at the end of the quarter. Boocks pushed the lead to back under 20 points at the 8:38 mark of the second quarter, taking a pass from Brock and sinking a three-pointer to make it 26-7. Bermudez hit a jumper at the end of the first half to cut Gannon's lead to 41-21 at the break.
 
The Golden Knights continued to press their advantage in the third quarter, leading by as many as 35 points in the third quarter after a trey by Ali Benim. Clarion went on a modest 6-0 run midway through the fourth quarter that included a three-pointer and a transition bucket by Santoro on consecutive possessions, as well as a free throw by Smith to make it 75-50. Gannon scored six straight of their own to close out the game.