FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Clarion women’s basketball team won its season opener in convincing fashion on Friday afternoon, defeating Concord 73-66 at the MEC/PSAC Challenge hosted by Fairmont State. The Golden Eagles (1-0) will try to sweep both of their games on the weekend when they take on the hosting Falcons on Saturday.
The win marks the first time the Golden Eagles have won a season opener in seven years, with the last victory coming in a 74-70 overtime win over East Stroudsburg to start the 2010-11 season. Clarion trailed by three points entering the fourth quarter but blew away the Mountain Lions by outscoring them 26-16 in the final 10 minutes, holding them to just two field goals through 8:19 of the quarter.
It was an 11-2 run that iced away Concord, with freshman Yasmin Lewis ripping the ball from Heather Chapman and taking it the other way for a transition layup to make it 67-58. Just three minutes earlier the game had been tied, but from that point on the Mountain Lions never got closer than two possessions.
Amesha Harden-Pullium tied for the game lead with 20 points on 5-of-13 shooting, with all five of her field goals coming from beyond the three-point line. Sophomore Tracy Wiehe had a breakout game with her first career double-double, scoring 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting while also grabbing a team-high 10 boards. Jordan Bekelja scored 14 herself and dished out seven assists, and Lewis finished with four points, nine rebounds and three steals in her college debut.
The Mountain Lions jumped out to a 14-10 lead after the end of the first quarter and led by as many as nine points in the second, but the Golden Eagles rallied hard and eventually took a lead just before halftime. Bekelja drilled a three-pointer at the 4:36 mark of the quarter to cut the lead to 25-23, and Lewis scored a bucket in the paint just over a minute later to keep Concord within two points. Wiehe was the one to put the Golden Eagles ahead, taking a feed from Bekelja and turning it into a midrange jumper to make it a 28-27 lead. Harden-Pullium added a three-pointer just before the buzzer to give Clarion a 31-27 advantage at halftime.
Tynita White knocked down a three-pointer just 35 seconds into the third quarter to put Clarion ahead 34-27, but the Mountain Lions showed fight in retaking the lead late. Keely Lundy broke a 41-all tie with a three-pointer, and Madison May made it 46-43 with a lay-up at the 2:26 mark of the third quarter. The lead never went out of reach, though, and the Golden Eagles eventually re-took the advantage in the fourth quarter.
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