CLARION, Pa. --- An offensive outburst briefly gave the Golden Eagle women's basketball team the lead in the third quarter, but a response by Lake Erie gave the Storm a 76-63 win in Tippin Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Clarion (0-3) was within two possessions with just over two minutes to play.
 
The game teetered back and forth for much of the evening, with Clarion erasing a 10-point deficit with 1:36 left in the second quarter to eventually take the lead in the third. The Golden Eagles outscored the Storm 22-13 in the third quarter, starting with makes on back-to-back possessions from Ava Haddad and Gloria Bwende. Hadded capped the 6-0 run with a putback at the 8:30 mark, pulling Clarion to within 37-35.
 
Jada Smith scored a transition bucket at the 6:19 mark of the third, swiping the ball from Aislyn Hurst and going the other way for a score to cut the lead to 40-39. Clarion took their first lead less than two minutes later when Allyson Kirby drilled a three-pointer from the wing, giving the Golden Eagles a 42-40 edge. Siara Conley made it 51-48 with 1:04 remaining in the third quarter, and Clarion carried a one-point lead heading into the final quarter.
 
The Storm, though, matched the Golden Eagles' feat in the fourth quarter, outscoring Clarion 26-12 to take the lead and expand upon it. Taylor Thomas made a three-pointer less than two minutes into the final frame to take a 54-51 lead, an advantage Lake Erie would not relinquish. Bermudez cut the deficit to just four points with a three-pointer at the 4:22 mark, and Bwende made it just a 66-61 hole with 2:36 left to go, but the Storm closed on a 10-2 run.
 
Bermudez scored a team-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, including a 3-of-4 mark from three-point range. Allyson Kirby posted her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds, the latter of which was a game-high.
 
Lake Erie opened the game on a 9-0 run but the Golden Eagles rallied back, cutting the deficit to 15-12 on a trey by Bermudez at the 3:07 mark of the first quarter. Bermudez added another jumper at the 1:10 mark to make it 17-15. The Storm expanded their lead to double-digits in the second quarter but Clarion rallied to eventually take the lead.
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