CINCINNATI, Ohio – Quorea Pearyer scored a game-high 22 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, but the Clarion women’s basketball team dropped a 92-54 decision to Cincinnati in a road exhibition game on Sunday afternoon.
(Photo courtesy of Clarion University Athletics)
The Golden Eagles (7-4, 4-1 PSAC) will play their next regular season contest after a layoff for the holidays when they take on Pitt-Johnstown on Friday, Dec. 30 on the road.
Pearyer finished with 22 points on 8-of-24 shooting from the field while also pulling in six rebounds. The senior guard came alive in the last period of action, shooting 4-of-7 for 13 points in the fourth quarter alone. Tyra Polite tallied 17 points while Delrika Jones-Carey posted six points and a team-high seven rebounds against the Bearcats.
Things tightened up between the teams in the second half but it was not enough for Clarion to cut into the Bearcats’ lead, as the Division I opponent controlled action for most of the game.
The Bearcats opened the scoring with the game’s first four baskets, with Clarion not getting on the scoreboard until a Polite jumper from the key rattled off the rim and backboard at the 6:37 mark of the first quarter. Jones-Carey cut the Cincinnati lead in half with a make in the paint to make it 8-4 but the Bearcats responded with another run to widen the gap. Pearyer ended that rally with a runner in the paint to make it 17-6, and Polite connected on a three-pointer from the deep right corner on the next possession to pull the Golden Eagles back within three possessions. Cincinnati put the heat back on, though, and carried a 23-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Pearyer put the Golden Eagles on the board in the second quarter with a pair of free throws at the 7:40 mark, and the senior guard drilled a three-pointer late in the quarter to make it 35-14. The Bearcats responded with a 9-0 run, but Bekelja halted that with two tosses from the foul line at the 3:30 mark. Polite notched a runner with less than two minutes remaining in the quarter to make it 48-18, and later added another three-pointer to make it 48-21 with forty seconds left. Brandy Tarver scored on a putback in the waning seconds of the half to halt the Golden Eagle run, however, making it 50-21 at halftime.
The Clarion defense clamped down at the start of the third quarter, holding the Bearcats without a field goal until the 6:15 mark of the period. Jones-Carey struck first in the second half with a make in the paint, and Bekelja went end-to-end for a layup after pulling in a defensive rebound to make it 51-25. Pearyer tacked on a midrange jumper to make it 57-27, and Jen Straw laid one in off a feed from Bekelja with less than three minutes left in the quarter to make it 59-29. Polite scored with less than a minute remaining in the period, driving and sinking the lefty layup, but Cincinnati took a 64-32 lead into the fourth quarter after a pair of free throws.
Pearyer opened the fourth quarter by drilling a contested three-pointer and continued throughout the early portion of the period, sinking four of her first six shots in the fourth for a total of 10 points in just 3:40 of action. Polite took a feed from Amesha Harden-Pullium and drilled a trey from dead center with 4:21 remaining to make it 78-46 but they would get no closer as the Bearcats played out the string for the win.
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