EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. ---- The Golden Eagle women's basketball team opened up conference play on Friday night, falling by a 62-50 score to East Stroudsburg at Koehler Fieldhouse. Clarion (0-5, 0-1 PSAC) will continue action this weekend when they take on Kutztown tomorrow evening.
The Golden Eagles out-rebounded the Warriors 38-36, and neither team shot the ball better than 40 percent from the field. Despite these factors, East Stroudsburg earned the win largely because of their ability to force turnovers, inciting 21 giveaways from the Golden Eagles while committing just 10 turnovers themselves. They scored 21 points off turnovers, while Clarion finished with 14.
Sierra Bermudez scored a team-high 15 points, going 5-of-11 of the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range.
Charjae Brock went 5-of-8 from the field for 11 points, while
Ava Haddad scored 10 points.
Allyson Kirby pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
The first quarter was very evenly played, though the Warriors held the lead for most of the period. Kirby tied the game at 10-10 with a pair of free throws at the 3:04 mark of the quarter, and Bermudez hit a jumper with just 83 seconds remaining in the period to give Clarion their only lead of the quarter. That made it 13-12, but Shyla Sanford hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to make it a 15-13 game after 10 minutes.
East Stroudsburg opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run, though, with Clarion not getting on the scoreboard until
Gloria Bwende swiped the ball from Caitlin Marten and scored on a midrange jumper at the 5:58 mark. The Warriors built up a 38-20 lead at the halftime break, but it was Clarion's turn to control a quarter next, outscoring East Stroudsburg 14-7 in the third. Haddad made a free throw to cut it to 38-28, and Bermudez capped an 11-0 run to start the quarter with a trey at the 3:27 mark.
The game got no closer, though, with Bermudez cutting it to 45-34 at the end of the quarter with a layup.
Gloria Bwende pulled the Golden Eagles to within 45-36 with a pair of free throws at the 8:05 mark of the fourth quarter, but the lead remained a double-digit one the remainder of the way as the Warriors closed it out.
