CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Scoring 34 points off of 33 Davis & Elkins turnovers, the Clarion University women’s basketball team won the first-ever regular-season hoops game in the newly renovated Tippin Gym, 90-65, Wednesday morning before an Elementary School Day crowd of 500.
(Photo of Clarion University’s Emily Hegedus, a Karns City graduate, who had 13 points and five steals in the Golden Eagles win Wednesday. Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa’s work here)
“I was definitely excited about our full-court defense,” Clarion head coach Jana Ashley, whose team improved to 1-3 on the young season, said. “(I liked) the intensity that we came out with, the effort that we got from all five positions on the floor.”
Clarion came out strong on defense forcing 12 Davis & Elkins turnovers in the first quarter alone allowing the Golden Eagles to grab a 30-16 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes.
“It’s great,” Karns City graduate Emily Hegedus, a sophomore for Clarion who scored 13 points while coming away with a team-high five steals said. “We were a little bit down losing those (first three games), and we needed a win to get us back up and to get our confidence up, especially in the first game in the new gym. It set the tone for us and for the rest of the teams, like the guys’ team. It was just a great confidence booster.”
Hegedus played a key role in a 16-2 run in the first quarter that staked Clarion out to an 18-8 lead with 5:39 into the game. Her old-school 3-point play at the 4:11 mark got the lead to double digits, and she had seven points and two steals during the spurt.
“Emily’s growth from her freshman year to her sophomore year has been huge,” Ashley said. “She has put in the work in the gym. Her confidence level has gone up She has turned into one of our best defenders and somebody we can count on as a big scoring punch as well.”
Clarion’s lead quickly grew to 17 in the second quarter, and the Golden Eagles led 41-24 just over three minutes into the quarter.
Davis & Elkins (0-4) was able to get back within 12, 43-31, late in the half. But Clarion went on a quick 5-0 spurt that included a 3-pointer from Celeste Ryman, who had a team-high 19 points, and another basket from Hegedus. That helped the Golden Eagles take a 50-33 halftime lead.
“We know that when we are really aggressive doing things the right way and we can turn people over, it leads to easy transition opportunities for us on the offensive end,” Ashley said.
Not only did the defense lead to easy transition opportunities, it also helped Clarion get balanced scoring with five players reaching double figures.
In addition to the 19 from Ryman, a freshman, and 13 from Hegedus, Yndiah Bobo and Ke’Ariah Massiah, another freshman, each added 13 points and Jada Smith scored 12.
“It is definitely some things that we’ve been talking about with our recruiting for the last two or three years,” Ashley said. “To finally see it start to happen on game day, the balanced scoring, the balance in the defensive end, being a lot deeper on our bench, being able to go to our bench and play everybody and know that we don’t have a big drop off, I think it’s something that other teams are going to have to start to prepare for.”
In the second half, Davis & Elkins was able to get back within 11, 57-46, and still trailed by 11, 59-48, about three minutes into the half before a 17-0 run by Clarion put an end to any doubt in the contest.
Massiah started the run with a 3-pointer followed by layups from Smith, Hegedus and Bobo, who completed an old-school 3-point play following her basket. Smith then scored two more baskets before Ryman made a free throw and Hegedus finished the run off with another basket to push the lead to 76-48 with 3:31 left in the third quarter.
Olivia Boocks, an A-C Valley graduate playing in her first-ever home collegiate contest in front of family and friends, added seven points and two rebounds in the victory.
“She can score the ball,” Ashley said. “She can really shoot it.”
NOTES – Davis & Elkins head coach Jason Asbell received a technical foul at the 7:59 mark of the second quarter. It was necessarily anything Asbell said rather a cumulation of badgering the officials through the first 12 minutes of the game … Asbell was upset that after the technical foul the officials wouldn’t talk to him and was heard telling the officials that it must be nice to be cops and officials because you don’t have to give an explanation … Jamiyah Johnson led all scorers with 20 points for Davis & Elkins with Jessica Eadsforth-Yates adding 14 points and Sydney Nestor 10 .. Clarion shot 49.4 percent (38 of 77) for the game including 54.1 percent (33 of 61) through the first three quarters … Davis & Elkins shot 43.1 percent (28 of 65) … Clarion had 19 steals with Smith and Bobo each adding four to Hegedus’ five … Clarion returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, when it hosts Kutztown. The Golden Eagles then host West Chester at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, before hosting Malone at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 27.
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