CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle women’s basketball team nearly erased an 11-point second half lead and pushed Mercyhurst to the wire on Tuesday night, but the Lakers ultimately held on to overcome Clarion by a final score of 68-63.
Clarion came back from 11 points down late in the third quarter to pull within one point with nine seconds remaining before Mercyhurst closed out the victory.
(Byline: Sean Fagan. Photo courtesy of Clarion University Athletics)
It will not be long before the Golden Eagles get their chance at revenge against the Lakers, though. The teams are scheduled to play again on Friday, February 26 in Erie.
The game featured tight defense from both sides as neither squad was able to rev up too much offense. As a result, the scoring difference was two points or fewer in three of the four quarters, with the only exception being a 22-16 advantage for the Lakers in the second. That does not mean there were not standout individual performances, as Ke’Airah Massiah led all scorers with a career-high 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Three of her four top-scoring performances all-time have come against the Lakers in the last two years. She also posted seven rebounds.
Devon Adams came up just one rebound shy of a double-double, notching 15 points and nine rebounds, while Abby Gatesman contributed 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 2-of-4 from three-point range. Jayde Boyd led Mercyhurst with 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
Clarion clamped down early on the Lakers in the first quarter, eventually taking a modest three-point lead on a jumper by Massiah at the 3:14 mark to make it 9-6. Neither team scored for more than two minutes, until Meghan Komendarek sank the last two buckets of the quarter to make it a 10-9 lead for Mercyhurst. The Lakers’ big offensive push came late in the second when they outscored Clarion 10-2 over the final 3:14 to take a 32-25 lead into halftime.
Mercyhurst stretched that lead into as many as 11 points in the third quarter, going ahead 42-31, and they held a 48-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter. It was then the Golden Eagles started to chip away, making it 51-47 on a make from Adams at the 6:55 mark and pulling to within two points on a pull-up J by Massiah at 4:59. Massiah finished off an and-one at the 1:48 mark to cut the lead to 61-60, and the teams traded free throws to make it 62-61 in favor of Mercyhurst with 24 seconds remaining.
Clarion missed an opportunity to seize the lead after Emily Shopene missed two free throws at the 22-second mark when Nicolette Arnold grabbed the offensive board and drew a foul. Arnold sank both of her free throws to make it 64-61, but Massiah quickly countered with a drive and make to slice the deficit to one point. The Lakers stabilized, made their free throws down the stretch to escape with the win.
