Published: December 19, 2008 01:26 am      

Clarion surges over FSU

CLARION, Pa. — For the first 16 minutes of Thursday night’s Fairmont State-Clarion University women’s basketball game at the Lady Golden Eagles’ Tippin Gym it looked as though the visiting Lady Falcons were well on their way to their fourth win of the young season.

Looks, however, can be deceiving.

Clarion trimmed a 13-point, first-half FSU advantage to just five at the break and then totally dominated the final 20 minutes en route to a 68-56 victory over the Lady Falcons.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak by the Lady Golden Eagles and improved them to 3-5 overall on the year. Fairmont State, which saw its modest three-game winning streak come to a halt, fell to 3-3 overall.

“I can honestly say this was one of the worst games I have coached since I took over the women’s program,” said ninth-year FSU coach Steve McDonald. “We have a style of play which we are supposed to play and I let us get out of hand in the first half in terms of that style of play. That, in turn, contributed to our demise in the second half so I take full responsibility for this loss. I’ve met with the team and I’ve told them the same thing. Now we’re going to move on to our next opponent.”

Led by senior center Gabby Gattuso, who scored 16 of her game-high 19 points in the first half, FSU raced to a 23-10 lead with 3:59 left to play in the opening half. Clarion, though, didn’t fold. The Golden Eagles closed the half with a 12-4 run and then got things clicking offensively in the second half to cruise to the win.

During the final 3:47 of the opening half and in the first 9:50 of the second half Clarion managed to outscore the Lady Falcons 34-8 and turn a 13-point deficit into a 13-point, 44-31, lead. The Lady Golden Eagles’ advantage ballooned to as many as 19 at 60-41 with 4:44 remaining before Fairmont rallied to trim it back to 12 at the end.

Clarion shot just 25 percent from the field in the first half (6-of-24), but caught fire in the final 20 minutes and connected on 14-of-26 field goals (53.8 percent).

For Fairmont the story was exactly the opposite. FSU shot 40.6 percent from the field in the first half, but just 26.5 percent (9-of-34) in the second.

Clarion also did a lot of damage against Fairmont at the foul line. The Lady Golden Eagles made 31 trips to the line in the game and connected on 25 of them. FSU, on the other hand, was just 9-of-19 at the charity stripe – a dismal 47.4 percent.

As noted, Gattuso led FSU with 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. She was the lone Lady Falcon to reach double figures in scoring in the loss. Fairmont’s leading scorer, Ashley Vavrek who came into the contest averaging 15 points per outing, was held to four points – all of which came at the foul line.

FSU also got nine points in just nine minutes from backup senior center Molly Kiger and six points apiece from Sasha Simmons and Samantha Guell. Senior forward Samantha Wanichko grabbed 10 rebounds, but finished with just three points which came on a 3-point field goal in the game’s waning seconds.

Clarion was paced by Katrina Greer’s 15 points. Shaina Smith added 12 points, while Sara Pratt chipped in nine points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

FSU returns to action Saturday on the road at 2 p.m. against unbeaten and 16th-ranked Shippensburg (Pa.) University.