CLARION, Pa. --- It was a night full of celebrations in Tippin Gymnasium, as the Golden Eagle women's basketball defeated Slippery Rock 82-64.
 
Before the game, Clarion honored its four seniors - Heather Ansell, Abby Gatesman, Alyssa McLellon, and Sadre'a Rougeau. The celebration carried on from the pregame ceremony all the way past the final buzzer as the Golden Eagles took an early lead on the Rock and never let up, marking the fifth time Clarion has beaten Slippery Rock in the last seven meetings in Tippin Gym. The victory also marked the first win of Danielle Fleming's tenure as Golden Eagle head coach.
 
Clarion had a dominant night all over the stat sheet, particularly on offense. The team shot 12-of-29 (.414) from behind the arc and shot a healthy 45.6 percent from the field. Rebounding was also a huge difference, with the Golden Eagles outrebounding the Rock by a margin of 49-35. Thirteen of those came on the offensive glass, and led directly to 17 points for the Golden Eagles.
 
The Golden Eagle bench played a huge part in the outcome of the game, outscoring the Slippery Rock bench 40-8, with Malayziah Etheredge leading all Clarion players with 18 points and nine rebounds. Hannah Wilkerson was also huge off the bench, scoring 14 points. Rougeau was huge in the starting lineup, adding 17 points to the stat sheet, and was dynamic defensively, adding three steals and a blocked shot.
 
Clarion led wire-to-wire, opening the game on a tear and quickly running out to a 16-4 advantage. Gatesman scored eight of the first sixteen points, including a pair of shots from behind the arc, and Autumn Taylor added six of her own during the stretch. With two minutes left in the first quarter, Etheredge had the highlight of the quarter, converting a dream shake layup while drawing a foul call to make it 18-9. Siara Conley added a basket at the end of the quarter to make it a double-digit ball game after 10 minutes.
 
The second quarter was all about Clarion's three-point shooting, with the Golden Eagles catching fire from long distance. With 8:40 left in the second quarter, Taylor rejected an Anye Washington layup to spark a Clarion transition opportunity, and Rougeau splashed in a triple off the Taylor assist to make it 26-12. Just a couple of minutes later, Slippery Rock cut the lead back to 11, but Rougeau shut the door on any potential run by draining her third basket from deep off a DayLynn Thornton assist. An emphatic block by Gatesman along with an Etheredge trey closed out the second quarter, with the Golden Eagles clinging to an 11-point advantage at the break.
 
After Slippery Rock brought the lead back down to single digits in the third quarter, an offensive rebound and layup by Conley put the Golden Eagles ahead by 43-33. From there, the Clarion lead ballooned to as high as 24 points, after Clarion went on a 20-4 run to end the quarter. The defense swarmed the Rock late in the period, allowing just two field goals in the quarter and holding them without a make from the field for more than six minutes of game clock.
 
From there, it was smooth sailing, as the Golden Eagles put the finishing touches on the victory. With 6:20 left in the final quarter, McClellon nailed a shot from behind the arc out of an out-of-bounds play, with Gatesman assisting on the basket to bring it to a 69-40 Clarion advantage. The seniors each got their individual curtain calls, embracing teammates and their coaches as they tasted victory in front of friends and family.
 
The Golden Eagles return to action next Wednesday as they host their final game of the season against Mercyhurst, tipping off at 5:30.
 
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