CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles women's basketball team won their third straight game on Saturday afternoon, defeating Penn State – DuBois 73-45 in the home opener at Tippin Gymnasium. Clarion clamped down on the Nittany Lions in the first half to build an impressive lead and held onto it throughout for the win.
Playing in front of their home fans for the first time this season, the Clarion defense hampered the Lions' offense with their tenacity in forcing turnovers. The Golden Eagles forced 31 giveaways and converted those into 31 points, and they held a significant edge in fast break points, 25-6.
Autumn Taylor continued her early-season scoring surge with another 20-point effort. The sophomore guard went 6-of-13 from the field and 5-of-12 from three-point range for an even 20 points. Freshmen
Arianna Seitz and
Madison Palek made a positive first impression on the home crowd as well, tying with 11 points apiece. Palek also contributed seven rebounds and two blocked shots, while Seitz had five boards and a steal.
Clarion was the dominant team in the first half, outscoring the Nittany Lions 43-16 and holding them to a 7-of-32 (.219) field goal percentage over the opening 20 minutes. Seitz and Taylor started off the scoring with three-pointers early in the first quarter, and
Zoe Guice made it a 12-0 lead with 6:26 left to play in the first. Frances Milliron finally got the Nittany Lions on the board with a fast break make at 5:40 in the first, but the lead stretched back to double-digits on a three-pointer by Taylor with 1:24 to play.
Things continued to progress in the second quarter.
Tearra Cook tipped in an offensive rebound to make it 24-9, and eventually
Alyssa Terza knocked down a three-pointer to make it 32-13. Seitz and
Claire Noble made three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to increase the lead to 40-16 and the Golden Eagles closed the half on a 10-0 run, giving them a 27-point lead at the break.
The lead cracked 30 points just three minutes into the third quarter after Cook's fast break layup that came after she stole the ball from Eden Wonderling. It hovered around there for the remainder of the second half as Clarion coasted to the victory.
