IUP Opens PSAC West Play by Defeating Clarion

Boxscore and play-by-play

Jahzinga Tracey scored 19 points and broke a tie with two late baskets to give IUP a 70-67 win over Clarion in its PSAC West opener Wednesday night at Tippin Gym.

The Crimson Hawks have won eight of their last 10 games to improve to 11-5 overall.  Clarion dropped to 6-10 and 1-1 in the PSAC West.

Tracey added nine rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals while two other IUP players finished in double figures in the scoring column.  Katie Glaws had 17 points, followed by Staci Heberling with 10.

Glaws added four assists and two steals.  Lauren Fisher had nine points and Kylie Miller contributed eight points and six rebounds.

My'Kea Cohill and Katrina Greer led Clarion with 17 points each, one more than Jessica Albanese.  Greer led all rebounders with 12.

The Golden Eagles erased a six-point deficit with 3:32 remaining, tying the game at 65 on a jumper by Cohill at the 1:50 mark.  But Tracey gave IUP the lead for good on a jumper with 1:29 to play and then made a steal and breakaway layup 19 seconds later to make it a four-point game.

Albanese trimmed the IUP lead in half with 21 seconds left, and Glaws made one of two from the free throw line with 7.6 ticks remaining.  After a Clarion timeout, Greer missed a desperation heave from near midcourt as time expired.

IUP led 40-35 at halftime and expanded its lead to as many as nine at 54-45 on a 3-pointer by Miller with 11:01 left in the game.  A three-point play by Greer with 7:12 left capped a 10-2 Clarion run that made it 56-55, but the Golden Eagles were never able to gain the advantage.

IUP plays its PSAC West home opener on Saturday at 1 p.m. with Edinboro providing the opposition.  The game will also serve as IUP's annual Alumni Day, with many former players expected to be in attendance.