Clarion University’s women’s basketball team recently concluded a successful season that included the Golden Eagles first PSAC Playoff berth since the 1996-97 season.

"It was a solid season," Clarion’s 13^th-year head coach Margaret "Gie" Parsons said. "It is something we worked very hard to accomplish and something we can truly build on heading into next season."

The Golden Eagles finished the season with a 6-6 mark in the always tough PSAC-West and a 12-15 overall record against another tough schedule that included seven games against NCAA Division II playoff qualifiers Gannon, California, Shippensburg and Millersville. The PSAC-West record was Clarion’s best mark since the 1996-97 team also went 6-6 while the 12 wins were the most for the Golden Eagles since the 1996-97 team also won 12 games.

"My general philosophy is to play a tough schedule because it helps us come crunch time," Parsons said. "When we are at the pivotal times in our season we are use to playing the top teams."

Clarion started the season off in grand fashion taking home the championship in the season opening Clarion Classic with a 93-64 win over Five Towns College and an 80-57 win over Mercyhurst.

Junior Allison Stodart led Clarion in the opener with 23 points, while freshman Heather Cigich added 15 points and 11 rebounds. In the title game, Tameka Washington paced the way with 19 points.

Following the opening two wins, Clarion lost its next two games including one to highly ranked Gannon before topping Mansfield Dec. 1 to go to 2-3. The Golden Eagles then dropped five of their next six games leaving them with a 4-7 record heading into PSAC-West play.

But fortunes quickly turned for the Golden Eagles as they won their next four games to move over the .500 mark at 8-7.

The winning streak began with a 75-67 win over six-time defending PSAC Champion Shippensburg Jan. 9 at home thanks to 23 points and 8 rebounds from senior Christina Lantz and 12 points and 12 boards from Cigich.

"The win was really set up by a tough loss at Millersville (91-87) two days earlier," Parsons said. "We played well enough in that game to win/ That catapulted us into the Shippensburg game. The best thing about the game, was that we didn’t play a perfect game. It really showed the players they could win."

Thanks to the momentum gained against Shippensburg, Clarion won three more games in a row 64-0 over East Stroudsburg, 66-52 over Kutztown and 77-74 over Edinboro to lift their record over .500. The East Stroudsburg game was a special moment for Parsons as it marked her 300^th career win in her 21^st season.

"Getting the 300^th win was special," Parsons said. "But I couldn’t have done it without the great players I have had over the years. They are the ones who should really get the credit for me being able to get 300 wins."

Following a tough loss at IUP, the Golden Eagles won their next two games over Slippery Rock and Lock Haven to move to 10-8 on the season.

But luck was not on the side of Clarion, as the injury bug began to hit the Golden Eagles in mid-January. The first casualty was junior forward Courtney Willman, who sprained her ankle in practice prior to the Slippery Rock game and was forced to miss the remainder of the season. At the time of the injury Willman was averaging 9.1 ppg and 5.4 rpg coming off the bench.

"Courtney getting hurt really hurt us," Parsons said. "Up until her injury, we probably had the strongest post game in the conference. Once she went down we became a little more vulnerable in the post. We still had a strong inside game, but we didn’t have the depth which put more pressure on the other players."

The Golden Eagles got a double whammy a couple of days later when starting point guard Tiffany Taylor injured her shoulder in the Slippery Rock game forcing her to miss Clarion’s next contest at Shippensburg. Although the Golden Eagles battled hard at Shippensburg, the absence of Taylor and Willman proved to be too much as the Lady Raiders squeaked out a 64-55 win over Clarion.

"Even being shorthanded we believed we should have won the second Shippensburg game," Parsons said. "It was a great disappointment at the time, but it has made us hungrier and more enthusiastic."

Coming home two days later to take on PSAC-West leading California, Clarion got some good news with the return of Taylor, but the news lasted only six minutes into the game. At that point freshman sensation Heather Cigich suffered a concussion that forced her to miss the remainder of the California game, which ended in a 81-61 Vulcan win, and the entire Edinboro game which was won by the Fighting Scots 95-84. The losses left the banged up Golden Eagles with a 10-11 mark heading down the home stretch.

Cigich returned to the lineup against Lock Haven Feb. 9 and her team-leading 18 points and 11 rebounds helped the Golden Eagles to a 69-53 win over the Bald Eagles.

Following a tough 76-71 loss to Slippery Rock Feb. 13, Clarion hosted IUP Feb. 16 knowing that win would clinch the Golden Eagles their first PSAC Playoff berth five years.

The game didn’t start out well for the Golden Eagles, as IUP jumped out to a 19-point first half lead. But Clarion battled back cutting the lead to nine points at halftime and then going on a 13-3 run at the start of the second half to take a 1-point lead. But IUP responded going back ahead by seven points midway through the second half. Clarion, though, wouldn’t quit going on a 29-9 run to end the game with an 86-73 win clinching the PSAC Playoff spot in the process. Lantz (18 points, 13 rebounds), Cigich (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Taylor (15 points) were the key starters in the game for Clarion, while junior Jen Duhnke came off the bench to provide 12 key points to go along with stellar defense against IUP’s star guard Jacquie Negrelli.

"The IUP game was probably the highlight of our year," Parsons said. "To be able to rally back after being down by 19 points twice in the first half and then to win by 13 was thrilling. We really got on a roll in that game. We really put it all together. We weren’t going to lose on Senior Night."

Clarion closed out the regular season with loses at Pitt-Johnstown and California and then faced the daunting task of facing Cal for the third time in the opening round of the PSAC Playoffs.

Many though the task of facing Cal for a third time was going to be prove to be too difficult for Clarion since it had lost its previous two games to the Vulcans by a combined total of 47 points.

But Clarion came out looking to prove its skeptics wrong in the playoffs. Using a stifling zone defense that confused the Vulcans all night long, Clarion came as close as any team came in the PSAC Playoffs to beating California losing 64-61 to the eventual PSAC Champions. Lantz led Clarion with 14 points and Cigich added 12 points and nine rebounds.

"We should have beaten them," Parsons said. "But basketball doesn’t get any better than that. It came down to the last play. If our shot had gone in we would have gone to overtime with a chance to win. If you have to end a season, then you should end it like we did. We thought we were going to win the game, but it is a great confidence builder for next season."

Both Lantz and Cigich were honored for great seasons at the end of the year with selections as second-team all-PSAC-West members. Lantz ended the season as Clarion’s leading scorer averaging 17.2 ppg and 7.6 rpg while Cigich added a team-leading 9.3 rpg to go along with 12.0 ppg.

"I am really happy for both players," Parsons said. "This is the first time in several years that we have had more than one player selected as a PSAC All-Conference performer."

The all-conference award marked a fitting end to Lantz’s Clarion career. A transfer from Dodge City (Kan) C.C. she played two years with the Golden Eagles as well as three games during the 1999-00 season before an injury ended her year prematurely. She finished as the 17^th leading scorer in Clarion school history with 797 points, while her 464 points this season ranks seventh in a single season in school history.

"I wish we could keep CJ for another year or two," Parsons said. "We will miss her on and off the court."

Cigich had a stellar rookie season finishing with 241 rebounds and 312 points. The rebounds are the 13^th most in school history and the fourth most by a freshman, while the points were also the fourth most by a freshman in school history. A good free-throw shooter as well, Cigich’s mark of 83.2% (89-107) this season is the second best single-season percentage in school history.

"We are excited that Heather will be around for three more years," Parsons said. "She was one of the best freshman in the league."

Clarion also got great contributions from its one other senior this season, Taylor. She was third in the team in scoring (10.5 ppg) and led the team with 96 assists. Her 81.3% (74-91) free-throw shooting percentage is the third best single-season mark in school history. For her two-year career, Taylor finished with 456 points,163 assists and an 80.6% career free-throw percentage (125-155), the second best mark in school history.

"Tiffany really finished strong," Parsons said. "She was a solid player for us. I think she had the most consistent, solid season for us. She gave us stability. We could count on her every night."

While the Golden Eagles lose two starters from this season, Clarion does return a strong nucleus for next season including Cigich, Willman, Washington (8.1 ppg) and Stodart (8.0 ppg).

The three juniors, Willman, Washington and Stodart have all had good career so far for the Golden Eagles. Willman has scored 635 career points to go along with 447 career rebounds, Washington has added 676 career points and Stodart has 714 career tallies. Stodart is also fourth in school history with 176 made three-pointers and third in school history with 551 three-pointers attempted.

"In addition to their play, they have been great leaders both on and off the court," Parsons said. They have helped turn us around in terms of a positive mental attitude, and they have also been leaders in the classroom."

Other key players for the Golden Eagles this past season included Duhnke (3.1 ppg), freshman Amelia Harris (3.6 ppg), freshman Emily Rolf (2.3 ppg), sophomore Lindsay Kostoric (2.2 ppg & 35 steals), junior Erin Stinnette (1.7 ppg & 1.5 rpg) and sophomore Julie McCormack.

"We never look at our team as starters and reserves," Parsons said. "We feature a team. All of our players contributed to our success this season. It just shows the type of team attitude we had."