CLARION, Pa. – Trailing Clarion at the half, 11th-ranked IUP women's basketball outscored the Golden Eagles by 26 points in the final 20 minutes as the Crimson Hawks came out with a 69-45 victory Wednesday night at Tippin Gymnasium.
 
It was the fifth straight win for the Crimson Hawks, who improved to 22-2 overall and remained tied atop the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division with a 17-2 league record.
 
IUP trailed for all but four minutes in the first half, with an upset-minded Clarion building a 25-16 lead midway through the second quarter.
 
Facing the 9-point deficit, the Crimson Hawks ended the half on a 10-3 run and trailed just 28-26 heading into the locker room.
 
IUP built on that momentum to open the third quarter, making seven of its first 10 shots to take a 42-32 lead six minutes into the half. It was part of a 26-7 run for the Crimson Hawks over an 11:07 span going back to the second quarter.  
 
Senior forward Megan Smith (Blain, Pa./West Perry) keyed the second half dominance for the Crimson Hawks, scoring 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. As a team, IUP shot 56.7 percent in the second half alone, converting 17-of-30 shots from the field, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range.
 
Conversely, Clarion made just 5-of-19 shots in the second half after shooting nearly 40 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Smith and junior guard Carolyn Appleby (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) each scored a team-high 16 points. Redshirt junior guard Lauren Wolosik (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) added 14 points and senior guard Audrey Stapleton (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) came off the bench to score 12 points. Junior forward Brittany Robinson (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) grabbed nine rebounds and Appleby dished out six assists.
 
NCAA regional rankings
Tonight's game followed the NCAA's initial Division Ii regional rankings released earlier today. Virginia Union led the Atlantic Region with IUP following in second. Other PSAC schools in the top 10 included Edinboro in third, California in sixth, West Chester in seventh and Seton Hill in eighth. The NCAA tournament field of 64 will be announced Sunday, March 4.
 
Up next
After back-to-back road games, the Crimson Hawks return home to host California (21-4, 16-3 PSAC) Saturday night. Tipoff is 5:30 p.m.
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.