CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle women's basketball team outscored and outplayed California (Pa.) for three quarters on Wednesday evening, but a slow start hindered their efforts as Clarion fell by a 61-55 score to the Vulcans at Tippin Gymnasium.
 
From the time they inbounded the basketball to start the second quarter to the final horn, the Golden Eagles outscored the Vulcans by a 13-point margin, outpacing them 47-34 over that 30-minute stretch. However, a dominant effort by California in the first quarter proved to make the difference, as the Vulcans outscored Clarion 27-8 in the opening 10 minutes to build a gap too large to bridge.
 
California shot 62.5 percent from the field in the first quarter when the Golden Eagles went just 3-of-9, but Clarion turned the tables on them for the remainder of the contest.
 
Sierra Bermudez played nearly the entire contest, scoring 19 points thanks in large part to a 5-of-7 performance form three-point range. Ava Haddad scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, while Jada Smith added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
The Golden Eagles trailed by 19 points entering the second quarter but quickly drove that lead down, starting with a three-pointer by Bermudez on the quarter's opening possession. The sophomore sharpshooter added another trey on the fast break at the 5:00 mark, stealing the ball from Alicia Young and knocking down a shot on the other end. Siara Conley made it 34-24 with a midrange jumper at the 4:14 mark, but the Vulcans still carried a lead of a dozen points into the locker room at half.
 
Neither side gained or lost ground in a defensive struggle of a third quarter, but the Golden Eagles got the deficit down to single-digits for good in the fourth. Bermudez sank a trey three minutes into the quarter to make it 51-43, and Haddad scored on the next trip down the floor to cut it down to 51-45. The lead hovered around three possessions the rest of the way, though Allyson Kirby made a three-pointer with eight seconds remaining to set the final deficit at 61-55.
 
 
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