CLARION, Pa. --- The Clarion women's basketball team had several opportunities to finish off a fourth quarter comeback win on Saturday, but the Golden Eagles came up just short in falling by a 69-65 score to IUP at Tippin Gymnasium.
 
The game was a seesaw battle for all 40 minutes, as neither team was able to maintain any sort of large lead over the other. The advantage changed nine times as the teams traded possessions throughout, though the Golden Eagles were able to produce a big run at the start of the game to initially take the lead.
 
The fourth quarter saw a number of those changes, as Clarion erased what had been a five-point Crimson Hawk lead by the midway point of the period. Sierra Bermudez made a midrange jumper with 5:50 remaining in regulation to cut the lead to 60-59, and Abby Gatesman kept it a one-point game with a fast break layup at the 4:28 mark. Siara Conley briefly put the Golden Eagles ahead 63-62, taking a feed from Allyson Kirby and laying it in at the 3:51 mark, but Alana Cardona responded on the next possession with a putback layup. IUP never relinquished the lead again, forcing a turnover with six seconds remaining to ice the game.
 
Bermudez finished with a game-high 18 points as well as a game-high eight rebounds, leading the way in both categories as the Golden Eagles attempted to upset the Crimson Hawks. Jada Smith – playing in the final home game of her college career – scored 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, and also added five boards. Kirby posted nine points, six rebounds and three blocks.
 
Clarion opened the game on a 9-0 run, holding the Crimson Hawks without a bucket until nearly four minutes had elapsed in the first quarter. In fact, the lead reached double-digits before the halfway point of the first quarter after Olivia Boocks and Smith sank four straight free throws on consecutive possessions. IUP rallied and pulled to within 15-13 on a jumper by Maria Cerro, but Smith nailed a jumper on the next possession to make it a four-point game.
 
Boocks capped a short run to start the second quarter with bucket in the paint, upping the Golden Eagles' lead to 23-16, but Kiera Baughman finished off an 8-0 run for the Crimson Hawks that put them ahead. Clarion regained the lead before the end of the half, with Bermudez setting them up for a two-point advantage through 20 minutes of action. Things were knotted up by the end of the third, with Kirby making 1-of-2 free throws with 28 seconds remaining in the period to make it 53-53.
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