Box Score

Junior Sarah Strybuc scored a career-high 29 points with a 7-of-10 effort from three-point range on Saturday afternoon as the hot-shooting Shippensburg University women's basketball team held off a second-half Clarion rally and dispatched the host Golden Eagles, 82-65, from Tippin Gymnasium in each team's PSAC opener.

The Raiders improve their record to 5-1 overall (1-0 PSAC), the best start to a season since they began the 2008-09 season 6-1.

Strybuc's seven three-pointers was one short of the Shippensburg single-game record of eight, last set by Lauren Beckley in a win over Shaw on Dec. 29, 2006.

As a team, the Raiders went 13-of-21 from three-point range, as the 13 treys are the most in a game for SU since it made 14 an overtime loss to West Chester on Feb. 24, 2010.

Seniors Shawna Wert and Dana Wert each made three from long distance as Shawna finished with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting and Dana contributed four assists to go along with 15 points.

Freshman Stephanie Knauer was the fourth Raider in double-figures, recording 12 points (8-of-12 from the free-throw line) and a career-high 14 rebounds. Senior Raediah Lyles added six points and four assists.

Clarion (2-3, 0-1) was led by Hannah Heeter, who finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. The two-sport athlete played in her first game of the season after returning from Clarion volleyball's five-set loss last night at Wheeling Jesuit that ended the Golden Eagles' season in the NCAA playoffs.

Shippensburg was behind early to the Golden Eagles and faced an 18-16 deficit nearly 10 minutes into the game. A Shawna Wert three-pointer then put the Raiders ahead for good and started a 19-2 SU run over the next six minutes that opened up a 15-point lead, 35-20, for the Raiders.

A Strybuc jumper with 2:22 left and a Dana Wert three-pointer with 31 seconds left gave Shippensburg a commanding 43-24 lead heading into halftime. A Dana Wert trey at the 13:42 mark of the second half extended SU's lead to a game-high 31 points, but a quick 10-0 Clarion run cut the lead to 59-38 with 10:21 left in regulation.

Another 10-0 run cut the Shippensburg lead to just 13, 62-49, at the 6:58 mark. A Heeter layup brought the Golden Eagles to 11 with five minutes left, but that would be as close as they would get, as the Raiders rebounded from the 25-5 Clarion second-half run and pushed the lead back up to as many as 19 before time expired.

Shippensburg continues its PSAC crossover weekend with a 1 p.m. contest Sunday afternoon at Lock Haven.