Clarion University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams hit the road for the first time in PSAC-West play this season when they travel to Edinboro’s McComb Fieldhouse Wednesday to face off against the Fighting Scots. The women’s game starts at 6 p.m. followed by the men’s game at 8 p.m.

Clarion’s men’s team, which is 7-4 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC-West, will be looking for its fourth straight win and its fifth win in its past six games when it invades Edinboro to face a Fighting Scots team that is 9-5 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC-West. Edinboro is winners of its past five games and nine of its last 11 after losing its first three contests this season.

The game will match two of the top three scorers in the PSAC and the top two scorers in the PSAC-West in Clarion’s Steve Serwatka and Edinboro’s Kenny Tate. Serwatka is the second leading scorer in the conference and the top scorer in the PSAC-West averaging 20.6 ppg, while Tate is the third leading scorer in the conference and second leading scorer in the PSAC-West averaging 19.4 ppg. Tate is also third in the conference in rebounding with 9.6 rpg.

Clarion is coming off a productive week that saw the Golden Eagles go 3-1 during the week including two 30-point wins. The Golden Eagles beat Shippensburg in the PSAC-West opener for both teams 72-42 Wednesday at Tippin Gym and then followed that win up with another 30-point victory, a 91-61 defeat of East Stroudsburg Saturday. Clarion also got a 77-56 win over Kutztown Sunday.

In addition to Serwatka, the Golden Eagles have three other players scoring in double figures including Allen Stevens (14.5 ppg), Rollie Smith (11.3 ppg) and Dale Thomas (11.0 ppg). David Shearer, who missed almost five games with a foot injury earlier in the season, is adding 8.3 ppg. Stevens is 19 points shy of becoming the 22^nd player in school history to score over 1,000 points in a career. He currently has 981 career points. He would join teammate David Shearer (1,114 points) giving the Golden Eagles two 1,000-point scorers on the same team for the first time since the 1996-97 team had Oronn Brown (1,442) and Jamie Polak (1,179) both over 1,000 career points at the same time.

Stevens, who is the 17^th leading scorer in the PSAC, is also 15^th in the conference in rebounding averaging 6.9 rpg, while Thomas, Clarion’s leading boards getter with 7.5 rpg, is 11^th in the PSAC in rebounding. Thomas is also tied for seventh in the league with 1.73 spg and has the seventh best field-goal percentage in the conference at 56.1%. Smith is second in the PSAC in assists averaging 4.82 apg.

One of the Golden Eagles strength so far this season has been their production at the foul line. Clarion is shooting 73.7% (157-213) from the charity stripe second best in the PSAC to only Bloomsburg’s 79.0%. The top free-throw shooters for the Golden Eagles are Serwatka (97% - 32-33) and Smith (92% - 23-25). Shearer, who is shooting 80% (20-25) from the free-throw line gives the Golden Eagles three players averaging 80% or better from the charity stripe.

Edinboro is coming off a 3-0 week last week that included an 88-73 win over California last Wednesday in its PSAC-West opener. Over the weekend, the Scots defeated Mansfield 77-72 and Bloomsburg 84-69.

In addition to Tate’s 19.4 ppg & 9.6 rpg, the Fighting Scots are also led by Blake Johnson’s 15.9 ppg, good for 10^th in the PSAC. Brandon Dominick is chipping in with 7.7 ppg, while Dab Grabill is adding 7.1 ppg for the Scots who get an average of 48.7% of their points per game from Tate and Johnson.

Last season Edinboro swept the season series from Clarion winning 79-75 at Clarion and 104-94 at Edinboro. Clarion last beat Edinboro 100-94 in double overtime during the 1999-2000 season.

The Fighting Scots have beaten the Golden Eagles 11 straight times at McComb Fieldhouse dating back to the 1991-92 season including a 77-68 win in the opening round of the 1997-98 PSAC playoffs. Clarion’s last win against Edinboro at McComb was a 100-72 decision on Feb. 20, 1991. The Golden Eagles did go 2-1 at McComb Fieldhouse last season losing to Edinboro during the regular season but beating Bloomsburg (70-65) and West Chester (80-77, OT) in the PSAC semifinals and finals respectively to win the PSAC Championship in 2001.

Clarion’s women’s team will be in search of its fourth straight win Wednesday at Edinboro. Last week the Golden Eagles went 3-1 with wins over the No. 1 and No. 4 teams in the NCAA Division II East Region.

Last Wednesday Clarion topped Shippensburg, the No. 1 team in the East and the 10^th ranked team in the nation, 75-67. The Golden Eagles followed that win up by giving head coach Margaret "Gie" Parsons her 300^th career win Saturday in a 64-50 triumph over East Stroudsburg. Clarion then finished the week off by beating the fourth ranked team in the East Region Kutztown 66-52 Sunday. On the season the Golden Eagles are 7-7 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC-West.

Clarion is led by the second leading scorer in the PSAC in Christina Lantz, who is averaging 16.5 ppg. Lantz is also the ninth leading rebounder in the PSAC averaging 8.5 rpg. Lantz was the PSAC-West co-player of the week last week after averaging 20.3 ppg & 8.0 rpg in Clarion’s four contests.

Also helping the cause for the Golden Eagles is freshman forward Heather Cigich who is scoring 12.0 ppg while hauling down 9.3 rpg, good for fourth in the PSAC. Cigich was named the PSAC-West Rookie of the Week last week after averaging a double-double with 10.3 ppg & 11.5 rpg.

Other top contributors for Clarion include Courtney Willman (9.1 ppg & 5.5 rpg), Tameka Washington (9.1 ppg), Allison Stodart (8.9 ppg) and Tiffany Taylor (7.7 ppg & 3.7 apg).

Edinboro, meanwhile, is 7-6 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC-West. Last week the Fighting Scots lost their PSAC-West opener to California 74-54 Wednesday then came back to beat Mansfield 77-57 Saturday before losing to Bloomsburg 75-67 Sunday.

The Fighting Scots are led by the fourth leading scorer in the PSAC in Krystal Henson (16.0 ppg) along with Lachelle Crawl (10.4 ppg & 5.4 rpg) and Wendy Wiggins (10.3 ppg & 4.3 rpg). Megan Zitner is adding 9.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg, while Suzanne Petruska is chipping in with 9.2 ppg. Courtney Thompson runs the show for Edinboro and is scoring 5.6 ppg to go along 5.1 apg, good for third best in the PSAC.

Last season Edinboro swept the season series from Clarion winning 89-66 at Tippin Gym and 78-71 at McComb Fieldhouse. The Golden Eagles last beat Edinboro 80-71 at Tippin Gym during the 1999-00 season. Clarion’s last win at Edinboro was a 64-62 victory during the 1996-97 season.

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES: Both games can be heard on WCUC-FM (91.7) and on the Internet at www.redzonemedia.com ... Both of Clarion’s teams return to action Saturday at IUP before returning to Tippin Gym Wednesday, Jan. 23 against Lock Haven ... Parsons 21-year coaching record is 301-231 ... In her 13^th season at Clarion she is the winningest coach in school history with a record of 191-158 ... She has won five PSAC-West, three PSAC and two East Region titles while at Clarion. She was also 110-73 in eight seasons at Thiel.