BLUEFIELD, W.Va. --- The Golden Eagles women's basketball team had the ball in their hands with the chance to take the lead on the final possession of the game, but Clarion came up just short in falling 66-65 to Bluefield State in the 2024-25 season opener.
 
That the Golden Eagles even had a chance to win the game in the final seconds was a testament to their resilience. Bluefield State jumped out to a huge lead in the first half, going up 35-18 with 2:15 left to go in the second quarter and seemingly in control of the game. Clarion's defense stiffened and their offense found its stride, though, and they started the process of the arduous comeback.
 
Things started in those final two minutes of the second quarter, with Clarion outscoring the Big Blue 11-1 in that span to bring the deficit back to single-digits. DayLynn Thornton converted an and-one with 1:29 to go to make it 36-23, and freshman Arianna Seitz followed up with a steal and a transition bucket. Seitz scored again on the fast break, this time making a free throw after drawing a foul, and Autumn Taylor scored on the break with four seconds left to make it 36-29 at halftime.
 
The break did little to dull the Golden Eagles' momentum. Taylor scored the first bucket of the half on the fast break and then drilled a three-pointer at the 7:30 mark, pulling her team to within 36-34. All told the Golden Eagles kept the Big Blue without a field goal for 7:20 of game time, until Azariah Binford made a layup at the 4:55 mark of the third to halt the drought.
 
Siara Conley got the deficit back down to three points with under three to play in the third, and Tearra Cook added a bucket with 90 seconds remaining to make it 47-45. Taylor evened the score for the first time since the early moments of the game, making a three-pointer off a pass from Cook at the end of the third to make it 48-48. The perseverance paid off midwy through the fourth quarter when Conley – who finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds – scored at the 5:41 mark to make it 59-56 in favor of Clarion.
 
The teams traded possessions, with Taylor tying the score at 62 with a driving layup. She later added a free throw with 38 seconds left to make it 65-63, but Andrea Robertson tied the scored 65-65 with a bucket and Jasmine Jenkins made a free throw with 3.6 seconds left to put the Big Blue up by one point. Clarion got a shot off just before the buzzer but could not convert.
 
Taylor scored a game-high 20 points and also contributed three steals, while Conley tacked on five steals and a blocked shot to her stat line. Hannah Wilkerson also went for double-digits on the boards, pulling down 10 rebounds and scoring eight points.
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