Boxscore

Three days after seeing its eight-game winning streak snapped at California, IUP bounced backed Saturday with a 72-46 victory over Clarion at Memorial Field House.

IUP improved to 11-5 overall and 3-1 in the PSAC West, tied with California and Mercyhurst for second place in the division, one game behind Edinboro. Clarion dropped to 4-12 and 1-3. The Crimson Hawks have won 11 in a row over the Golden Eagles.

Sarah Pastorek (Johnstown/Bishop McCort) hit 8 of 11 shots from the field and led all scorers with 19 points. Eryn Withers (Burtonsville, Md./Springbrook) added 17 points and Katelyn Marshall (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) finished with 10 to give the Crimson Hawks (three players in double figures. IUP has reached the 70-point mark in 11 of its last 12 games.

IUP dominated on the boards by a 46-30 margin, led by Brianna Johnson (Fairfax, Va./Oakton) with 10. The Crimson Hawks also limited Clarion to 31.9 percent shooting and forced 24 turnovers, including five steals by Johnson. IUP has allowed 46 or fewer points in six of its past nine games.

Emma Fickel hit five 3-pointers and led Clarion with 16 points but no other player reached double figures. Ann Deibert had a game-high 11 rebounds.

IUP never trailed in the contest and used a 17-4 run to turn a three-point lead into a 28-12 advantage with 2:40 left in the first half. Withers scored eight points during the decisive surge, including a layup to cap the run.

Withers had one 3-pointer in the game and moved into sole possession of third place in IUP history in that category with 128. She trails only teammate Lacey Claar (Imler, Pa./Claysburg-Kimmel) with 194 and Katie Glaws with 170 in the Crimson Hawk record book.

The lead was 30-15 at halftime and never dropped below 13 during the second half. A three-point play by Pastorek followed by a 3-pointer by Arika Ullman (Baltimore, MD/Seton Keough) made it 52-29 with 11:42 left, and a basket by Chelsea Gieringer (Oley, Pa./Oley Valley) with 1:10 to go gave IUP its largest lead of the game at 72-43.

The Crimson Hawks hit the road for a four-game swing over the next two weeks, beginning Wednesday at Edinboro. IUP does not return to Memorial Field House until a Feb. 9 game vs. California.