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GREER; ALBANESE HELP CLARION BREAK 5-GAME SLIDE WITH 63-62 WIN AT SLIPPERY ROCK WEDNESDAY

SLIPPERY ROCK – Katrina Greer and Jessica Albanese combined to score 33 points to lead Clarion to a 63-62 win at Slippery Rock Wednesday night.

Greer had a game-high 18 points on 5 of 11 shooting including 3 of 7 from beyond the arc, while Albanese added 15 points and four rebounds.

The win broke a 5-game losing streak for the Golden Eagles (7-13 overall, 2-4 PSAC-West) and leaves Clarion just a game back of California and Edinboro for third place in the PSAC-West halfway through the conference season. The top four from the PSAC-West make the PSAC playoffs.

The game was tied at 47 with 6:40 to play before Clarion went on a 4-0 mini-run to take a 51-47 lead on an April Gratton layup with 5:50 to play.

While the lead never grew by more than five the rest of the way, Clarion never trailed again.

The Golden Eagles built the lead to 61-56 on two Ashley Grimm free throws with 33 seconds to play, but Slippery Rock (8-12, 2-4) got a 3-pointer from Jessica Schake with 19 seconds left to make it 61-59.

But Albaneses’s layup with seven second left sealed the win and made a buzzer beating three by Slippery Rock’s Amanda Nero meaningless.

My’Kea Cohill chipped in with 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Golden Eagles, while Grimm had seven points, seven assists and four steals. Gratton added seven points.

Nero and Schake led Slippery Rock with 12 points each with Schake adding seven rebounds. Nijha McNeely chipped in with 11 points, while Nikki Presto had seven points, six rebounds and three assists.

The game was a low scoring affair in the first half with the contest knotted at 11 with less than six minutes to play.

Slippery Rock then took a 14-13 lead with 4:47 to play before Clarion went on a 12-2 run to take a 25-16 lead with 1:27 to play thanks to a layup by Gratton.

The Rock was able to close the half with four straight points including a Dana Stewart jumper with one second left to cut the lead to 25-20 at halftime.

Clarion got the lead up to six – 28-22 – early in the second half before Slippery Rock answered with a 15-8 run to takre a 37-36 lead with 13:05 to play.

But Cohill’s jumper with 12:51 left gave Clarion the lead back, and although the contest would get tied one final time at 47, the Golden Eagles never trailed again.

Clarion returns to action Saturday when it travels to California for a key PSAC-West contest. The Eagles knocked off Cal 69-58 Jan. 10 but haven’t won at California since 1998. The game can be heard locally on 91.7 FM and on the Internet at www.redzonemedia.com.