CLARION, Pa. — Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore poured in a team-high 26 points and four Golden Eagles reached double figures as the Clarion women's basketball team defeated Lake Erie 94-85 on Saturday night at Tippin Gymnasium
. In a physical contest that featured 67 combined fouls and 89 free-throw attempts, Clarion (2-0) went 31-of-52 at the charity stripe and never trailed in the wire-to-wire victory. The Golden Eagles controlled the interior with a 42-18 advantage in points in the paint and a 50-40 edge on the glass while shooting 51.7 percent from the field.
Clarion set the tone immediately in the opening quarter, racing out to an 8-0 lead behind early jumpers from Nguyen-Moore, a fastbreak layup by Aundraya Neavins and a pair of free throws from Nylah McShan. Nguyen-Moore buried a 3-pointer at the 7:42 mark and Christiana Gordon converted inside to push the margin to 13-4. Although Lake Erie (1-1) trimmed the deficit to three late in the period, Nguyen-Moore answered with a layup and Neavins sank two free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 22-16 cushion after one.
Nguyen-Moore opened the second quarter with another 3-pointer to spark an 11-2 run that stretched the Clarion advantage to 33-18 midway through the frame. McShan provided an immediate spark off the bench during the period, scoring six points in the quarter to help the Golden Eagles extend their lead to 17 on a Lia Krarup layup with just over a minute remaining before heading into halftime ahead 46-31.
The Golden Eagles maintained a double-digit cushion throughout the third quarter, pushing the lead to 58-40 behind four free throws from Gordon and a fastbreak layup and free throw by Neavins. Lake Erie's Micheala Dean-Dunn connected on three 3-pointers late in the period to pull the Storm within 14, but Claire Noble beat the buzzer with a fastbreak jumper off a Neavins assist to make it 67-51 entering the final frame.
Clarion opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 burst to build its largest lead of the night at 74-51. Lake Erie mounted a furious late rally—scoring 34 points in the fourth quarter and cutting the deficit to seven at 90-83 with 52 seconds left—before Nguyen-Moore and Alyssa Terza combined to knock down five free throws in the closing minute to seal the 94-85 win.
Nguyen-Moore finished 9-of-12 from the floor—including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc—while adding eight assists, five rebounds and two steals. McShan delivered a dominant double-double off the bench with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five steals, while Gordon (13 points, three assists) and Neavins (12 points, four assists) rounded out the double-figure scorers. Terza anchored the defense with 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
