CALIFORNIA,
Pa.--- The Golden Eagles women's basketball team traveled to California (PA) for a Valentine's Day showdown at the Convocation Center, falling to the Vulcans by a score of 84-53.
Clarion started slowly on offense, shooting 3-of-14 in the first quarter as they fell behind by 13 points after the opening quarter. They found a spark early in the second quarter as
Sadre'a Rougeau chipped in five quick points, including a shot from behind the three-point arc, to bring the deficit down to 22-12.
The teams traded punches down the stretch in the second quarter, with the Vulcans stretching their lead out to 17 points. The Golden Eagles responded with 10-2 over the next three minutes, including a tough
Siara Conley jumper off an offensive rebound at the 2:48 mark, and a
Malayziah Etheredge jumper with 1:19 left to play in the half to cut the Vulcans' advantage to 31-22.
Autumn Taylor led all scorers with 18 points, shooting 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Conley continued to crash the offensive glass with seven offensive caroms on the night. She is now averaging 4.3 offensive rebounds per game in the month of February. Rougeau came off the bench to play 32 minutes, contributing 15 points and adding a couple of steals.
The Vulcans broke things open after halftime, enjoying a huge third quarter where they outscored the Golden Eagles by a score of 28-12. With 3:52 left to go in the quarter Rougeau swiped the ball away from Alicia Young and took it the other way, making an easy layup to cut it to 45-28. Etheredge tacked on a layup on the next Clarion possession, and
Heather Ansell closed the third quarter with a three-point basket off a
Dominika Logue assist.
In the fourth quarter, Clarion caught fire from behind the arc, going 4-for-7 from the land of plenty to shoot 57.1 percent during the final quarter. Taylor hit three of the four three-point shots for the Golden Eagles, two of which came off
Abby Gatesman assists.
Clarion will finish up their three-game road trip with a matchup against nationally-ranked Gannon tipping off at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
