CLARION FALLS TO CHARLESTON IN OPENING ROUND OF NCAA PLAYOFFS
ANDERSON, SC – Clarion, playing without senior star and leading scorer, Heather Cigich for nearly 30 minutes because of an injury, lost to Charleston (W.Va.) 79-57 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II women’s basketball playoffs Friday afternoon at Anderson College.
Cigich went down with an ankle injury with 9:45 left in the first half and Clarion (23-7) trailing 21-18. At the time, the Golden Eagles were also playing without Melba Melton, who went down two minutes earlier with an injury. Melton, though, returned to the game in the first half and played the entire second half. Cigich tried to start the second half as she did at California Feb. 19 when she hurt the same ankle, but was taken out of the game after about a minute when it was determined she couldn’t go.
“It was the same ankle she hurt at California (Feb. 19),” Clarion head coach Gie Parsons said. “It was worse than that game, though. There was no coming back this time. She really wanted to, but it wasn’t to be.”
Clarion held its own without Cigich for the remainder of the first half taking a 32-30 lead with 1:35 to play in the half before falling behind 36-32 at halftime.
Amelia Harris stepped up for Clarion finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds, her second double-double of the season.
UC used second-half runs of 8-2 and 12-0 to take a 19-point lead, 58-39 with 11:01 to play.
Clarion fought back with a 10-1 run fueled by four points each from Shay Godwin and Melba Melton to cut the UC lead to 59-49 with 7:46 to play.
“It is a real credit to our team. We didn’t stop. We didn’t quit,” Parsons said.
However, that was as close as Clarion got. Charleston ended the game on a 20-8 run to put an end to Clarion’s season.
It was a good season for the Golden Eagles, though.
Clarion’s 23 wins were the fifth most in school history, and the trip to the NCAA playoffs was the Golden Eagles first since 1995. The two four-year seniors – Harris and Cigich – saw the team’s win total expand from 12 in their first season to 23 this year while winning Clarion’s first PSAC Playoff game since 1995.
“It’s the legacy our seniors left,” Parsons said. “They got us here. That’s a tribute to them. Now we want to come back. The underclassmen don’t want this to be their only trip.”
Clarion also loses two two-year seniors – Shay Godwin and Tiffany Peacock.
Peacock added 11 points and four steals for Clarion, while Godwin had nine points and 13 rebounds.
Courtney Thomas led UC with 20 points, while Lisa Lee had 19 points and 12 rebounds. Laura Kinsler added 15.
Charleston shot 8 of 20 from three-point range, its second highest three-point total on the season. UC came into the game hitting just 31.5 percent of its long balls.