Disappointment continued for Slippery Rock women’s basketball as they fell to No. 18 Gannon University, 75-59, Wednesday at Morrow Field House.
The loss drops SRU’s record to 5-20 overall and 2-19 in PSAC play. The Rock has lost 11 consecutive games, going back to Jan. 6 when they defeated Cheyney University.
One of the bright spots for SRU was Jasmine Cooper’s play. Cooper contributed 20 points and six rebounds in the loss, while teammate Paris Thomas also reached double figures with 14 points. Danielle Smith led the team in rebounds with eight and also added nine points of her own.
The game remained close in the early action until Gannon took control with a 17-5 run to make the score 22-10.
Gannon continued to push the pace and moved the lead to 16 points, 43-27, at halftime.
Gannon kept its momentum going in the second half and opened the lead up to 21 points in the second half and held that lead at the 11 minute mark when SRU started a run to get back into the game.
After putting together a 12-4 run, SRU closed the gap to 13, 69-56, with four minutes remaining in the game.
Gannon slowed the SRU run and only allowed the Rock to score three points in the final four minutes of play as the Lady Knights went on to victory.
SRU shot 39 percent from the floor, 30 percent from 3-point range and 66 percent at the free throw line, while Gannon shot 44 percent from the floor, 41 percent from 3-point range, and 80 percent from the free throw line.
Rock head coach Tanya Longo said that the team worked on attacking more in the second half but weren’t able to close the gap.
“We had a more deliberate offensive attack, put the ball in the basket, and put together back-to-back stops on the defensive end,” Longo said. “Our effort was there, but we need to improve our basketball IQ and focus.”
Prior to its loss to Gannon, the Rock faced No. 21 Indiana University of Pennsylvania and took a tough loss, 70-45.
D’Asia Chambers led Slippery Rock with 14 points for the second game in a row. Jasmine Cooper chipped in six points and five rebounds while Danielle Smith added six points. Sarah Pastorek led IUP with 12 points while teammate Amy Fairman added 10 points.
IUP wasted little time as they scored the first five points of the game and built a 10-2 lead. SRU battled back and cut the deficit to five points with 12 minutes left in the first half.
The Lady Hawks answered back with a 9-0 run to bring the score to 26-12 with six minutes left in the first.
SRU tried to close the gap, but IUP continued to score bucket after bucket and pulled away with a double-digit lead through the remainder of the game.
Slippery Rock shot 42 percent from the field, 35 percent from behind the arc, and 50 percent from the free throw line. They were also outrebounded by IUP by a wide margin of 45 to 23. IUP shot 37 percent from the field, 16 percent from behind the arc, and 71 percent from the free throw line.
Longo said that IUP had a quick start that gave them control of the game.
“IUP turned our turnovers into quick points to build an early lead,” she said. “Balanced scoring is always a goal for our offensive production along with bench contribution.”
Slippery Rock will finish their regular season with a matchup against Clarion tomorrow at Morrow Field House. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. with a pregame ceremony honoring seniors Danielle Smith, Shannon Lee, and Sherita Stanley
