ITHACA, N.Y. --- The Golden Eagle women's basketball team took a respite from their regular season schedule to play a Division I exhibition on the road, falling to Cornell 93-49 at Newman Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Clarion played their best basketball of the afternoon in the second half, holding closer with the Big Red. In particular, they went roughly point-for-point in the third quarter, largely by putting Cornell into foul trouble.
 
Sierra Bermudez totaled 11 points in the contest, going 3-of-10 from the field but also chipping in a 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Jada Smith recorded five points and a team-high eight rebounds. The Golden Eagles got ample contribution from the bench, with the reserves tossing in 27 points.
 
The Big Red opened the game on a 9-0 run in the first quarter, before Bermudez drove one to the hoop and laid it in at the 6:36 mark. Ava Haddad scored 24 seconds later to cut it to 11-4, and Smith hit a midrange jumper in the paint to make it 19-9. It was back to a double-digit game with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter after a free throw from Smith, but Cornell drove the advantage to 15 points by the end of the period.
 
Cornell extended that lead by 17 points before the halftime break, though, taking a 53-21 edge after 20 minutes. The distance between the teams stayed fairly static throughout the third quarter, though, as Clarion went 12-of-15 from the charity stripe to keep pace. Smith swiped the ball from Kaya Ingram and rushed in a layup on the fast break to make it 56-25, and Allyson Kirby made a pair of free throws late in the third. The Big Red again went on the attack in the fourth, building their lead to greater than 40 points.
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