EDINBORO, Pa. – The Edinboro University women's basketball team closed the book on the regular season with a 67-59 loss against the visiting Golden Eagles on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Fighting Scots enter the PSAC Tournament as the fourth seed in the Western Division and will host Seton Hill on Monday night in McComb Fieldhouse. Edinboro ends the regular season with a 20-8 overall record and a 16-6 conference mark. Clarion improved to 15-13 overall and 12-10 in the PSAC as they enter Monday's first round action the number five seed and head to Mercyhurst for a first round contest.
The loss snapped a seven game winning streak against the Golden Eagles and is just the second time in the last 15 meetings that the Fighting Scots were on the losing end.
Saturday's contest was also Senior Day as the Fighting Scots honored five departing seniors.
Whitney Allen,
Katie Fischer,
Lindsey Jahn,
Nicole Johnson and
Maggie Moore were recognized prior to the contest. Over the past four seasons, the Fighting Scots have totaled an 87-31 record, including a PSAC Championship, four PSAC Tournament appearances and an Elite Eight appearance.
Much like the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season, the first half was a hotly contested affair with the winning team pulling away in the second half, only this time it was the Golden Eagles celebrating the victory. Clarion narrowly outscored Edinboro in the opening quarter, 15-11, before Edinboro returned the favor, outscoring the Golden Eagles 21-12 in the second quarter to take a 32-27 halftime lead.
Trailing 39-33 early on in the second half, the Golden Eagles orchestrated a 17-5 run over the final 8:44 of the third period to take a six-point lead at 50-44 heading to the final quarter. Included in that stretch was a three-point swing resulting from a technical foul assessed to Edinboro.
The Fighting Scots opened the fourth quarter on a quick 6-2 run to cut the lead to just two points, sparked by a
Jontay Walton layup, but a Tyra Polite 3-pointer halted the run. A
Ciara Rosten layup on the ensuing possession made the score 55-52 but Clarion again responded, outscoring Edinboro 7-3 over the next few minutes to hold a 62-55 lead with 50 seconds remaining.
Another Rosten layup made the contest a two-possession game with 42 seconds remaining, but the Golden Eagles were able to ice the win with free throws.
Rosten led the Fighting Scots with 13 points. Fischer totaled 12 points and dished out six assists. Walton finished with eight points in her second start of the season. Sophomore
Cheniya Sharpe turned in a solid all-around performance in her second straight start, totaling eight points, a team-high nine rebounds, an emphatic shot block and tons of hustle. Moore also finished with eight points and grabbed five boards.
Michelle Jahn was limited to just six points, but connected on a pair of 3-pointers to move into ninth all-time with 129 career 3-pointers.
The Golden Eagles were led by the three-headed attack of Polite, Delrika Jones-Care, and Jen Straw. Polite led all scorers with 17 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Jones-Carey finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting before fouling out late. Straw added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Clarion finished the contest shooting 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the floor, but made just 3-of-16 shots from the perimeter. The Golden Eagles outrebounded the Fighting Scots 41-32, but Edinboro held a 14-9 advantage in second chance points. Edinboro shot a respectable 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the field, but struggled from beyond the arc (5-of-21) and at the charity stripe (8-of-15).
The Fighting Scots get a short break before opening postseason action on Monday, February 27, against Seton Hill. Tipoff for the PSAC First Round contest is scheduled to 5:30 p.m.
