Feb. 9, 2008

Box Score

CLARION - My'Kea Cohill's floating jumper with 26.2 seconds left lifted Clarion to a 72-71 win over visiting California in a battle for second place in the PSAC-West Saturday night at Tippin Gym.

Cohill's jumper marked the only time Clarion (15-6 overall, 5-2 PSAC-West) led all game and ended a game-finishing 18-5 run by the Golden Eagles who erased a 12-point deficit in the final 5:26 to get the victory.

Cal (17-5, 4-3) had two final chances to win the game including a 17-foot jumper from Crystal Andrews that went in and then out at the horn.

Cal led 66-54 with 5:43 left to play, but Clarion scored 14 of the next 17 points to close to within a point at 69-68 on a Cohill three-pointer with 2:17 to play.

The Vulcans went back up by three, 71-68, on two free throws by Amber Dubyak with 1:21 to play, but those were the final two points for Cal.

Katrina Greer's two free throws brought the Golden Eagles back to within a point with 1:06 to play before Clarion got the ball back on a jump ball with just over 30 seconds left. That set up Cohill's running, floating jumper that gave Clarion its first lead of the contest.

Cal led by as many as nine in the first half before Clarion got within five, 39-34, at halftime. The Vulcans then started the second half with a 4-0 run to go back up nine but Clarion cut the deficit to 46-44 with 14:11 to play on a Cohill jumper.

The Vulcans had the answer with an 18-8 run to go up 12, 64-52, with 6:58 left.

Janelle Zabresky had a monster game off the bench for Clarion with 18 points and 15 rebounds including recording a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in the first half. Her contributions were especially important considering Sara Pratt was in deep foul trouble with three in the first half. Zabresky, who shot 6 of 8 from the field, also had two assists, three blocked shots and a steal.

Jessica Albanese added 14 points, five rebounds, Cohill had 13 points, seven assists, eight rebounds and two steals and Katrina Greer added 12 points. Grimm chipped in with nine points, all after halftime, and six assists.

Andrews led Cal with 19 points, Kayla Smith had 18 points eight rebounds and Brooque Williams 12 points and 10 boards off the bench.

Clarion returns to action Wednesday when it hosts IUP at 6 p.m. in a game that pits the top two teams in the PSAC-West. The Golden Eagles trail IUP by one game with five to play.

NOTES - Clarion came into the day tied with both Cal and Shippensburg for second place but took over sole possession when Edinboro beat Ship early in the day ... Clarion has won five straight games ... This was the Golden Eagles second straight win at Clarion over Cal and the Eagles third in four tries over the Vulcans at Tippin Gym.