CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion women’s basketball team controlled all facets of the game in victory on Saturday, using a balanced effort to defeat the IUP Crimson Hawks 64-59 at Tippin Gymnasium.
The Golden Eagles (12-7, 9-4 PSAC) won their first game against the Crimson Hawks since Feb. 19, 2011, snapping a 10-game skid against IUP in the process.
All eight players to see the court contributed in some way to the win, with Delrika Jones-Carey authoring a 12-point, nine-rebound performance over the course of a season-high 37 minutes. Jordan Bekelja filled the stat sheet with 19 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Tyra Polite added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Clarion held IUP to a 30.6 field goal percentage in the first half in taking a 26-24 advantage at the halftime break. The big moment came in the third quarter when the Golden Eagles outpaced the Crimson Hawks 23-16, and then held off a rally by IUP in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
Holding a two-point lead entering the start of the third quarter, Bekelja scored a second-chance point at the 8:31 mark to put Clarion ahead 29-24. She put the Golden Eagles ahead by three possessions with a make in the paint at the 6:40 mark, and the Clarion lead reached 37-29 on a midrange jumper by Jen Straw with 5:11 to go in the period. Polite kept it a three-score game with a drive and make down the stretch, and Jones-Carey knocked down a jumper from the elbow with seven seconds remaining in the third quarter to put Clarion ahead 49-40 entering the fourth.
IUP pulled as close as 59-57 after a three-pointer with 1:28 left in regulation, but Clarion went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to keep them at arm’s length. The Crimson Hawks made just one more field goal the rest of the way as the Golden Eagle defense clamped down.
That same defense had done a good job of clamping down early in the first quarter when both teams were struggling to make shots. IUP led by as many as five points in the opening stanza, going up 11-6 on a transition make from Caroyln Appleby. Maniah Robinson cut that lead to just one point at the end of the quarter, though, making a jumper with 13 seconds left to slice the advantage to 13-12. Clarion had the lead for good less than two minutes in to the second quarter, when Polite laid one in to put the Golden Eagles up 18-16.
Clarion has been without second-leading scorer Quorea Pearyer since mid-December for what is believed to be a grade eligibility issue.
MEN’S BASKETBALL NO MATCH FOR NO. 10 IUP
CLARION, Pa. – Sophomores Dante Lombardi (Indiana, Pa./The Kiski School) and Jacobo Diaz (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain/CBA Gran Canaria) shined on Saturday afternoon, leading 10th-ranked IUP men’s basketball to a 70-52 victory at Clarion in the Tippin Gymnasium.
Lombardi tied a career-high with 22 points, drilling four three-pointers, while Diaz notched his eighth double-double of the year with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The victory was the eighth straight for the Crimson Hawks, as they improved to 17-2 overall and 12-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). They also stay two games up on second place Gannon (12-5, 10-3) for the PSAC Western Division lead.
Although the Crimson Hawks shot just 39.0 percent from the field, their defense turned the heat up on the opposite end of the floor by forcing Clarion into 19 turnovers. IUP had 10 total steals, getting three each from Lombardi and Diaz, and two more from senior guard Brandon Spain (Baltimore, Md./Glen Burnie). IUP also limited the Golden Eagles to a 38.0 field goal percentage.
Spain and freshman guard Malik Miller (Farrell, Pa./Farrell) also reached double-figures in scoring, adding 11 and 10 points off the bench, respectively.
The Crimson Hawks were again successful from the foul line, going 15-of-16 from the charity stripe. They’ve hit 83 percent or better from the line in five of their last six games, and eight total times this year.
BJ Andrews led the Clarion offensively finishing with a team-high 13 points to go along with four rebounds in 27 minutes of action. Cam Grumely led the Golden Eagles in assists with four, while Jamani Pierce finished with the team lead in rebounds with nine.
