The Slippery Rock University women’s basketball team’s first taste of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action proved to be more difficult than expected over the weekend, suffering a defeat in both games bringing the season record to 1-4 (0-2 PSAC).
The Rock has now lost four games in a row.
Bloomsburg University showcased why they are the 25th ranked team in the nation on Saturday with a commanding victory over the Rock 84-46.
The Huskies now have a 4-1 overall record (1-0 PSAC).
On Sunday, the Rock was defeated by Mansfield University 78-65.
The Mountaineers walked away with a 2-2 overall record (1-1 PSAC).
Between the two games played over the weekend, the Rock made 26.6 percent of their attempted field goals, 8.2 percent of their three point shots and 63.3 percent of their free throws.
Free throws have been an area that needed to be worked on in the first few games of the season; the increase in free throw percentage is an improvement and speaks volumes of the team’s work ethic in practice.
Junior Jazmyne Frost was the only player to score double digits over the weekend.
Frost scored 10 points against Bloomsburg, with eight of those points coming from the free throw line, shooting a perfect eight for eight.
Alexas Brown had nine points, D’Asia Chambers added seven, and Alexis Mayo had six points and six rebounds.
On Sunday against Mansfield, Frost put together a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Brown added nine points and five assists, while Simone Aladenoye contributed eight points and Danielle Garroutte had seven.
After the weekend not being as successful as the team had hoped for, there are a few things to focus on in order to get the team moving in the right direction.
“Bloomsburg is one of the most fundamental teams around, both their men’s and women’s teams,” head coach Tanya Longo said. “It’s truly impressive to be able to see that in their game and I admire their style of play. Simple yet successful, keeping it basic.”
The Rock had their own personal triumphs over the weekend.
“Our aggressive attack was phenomenal and we made sure to put pressure on the court.” Longo said. “We really need to shoot the ball better now that we are getting nice shots as well as frequent free throw attempts. Week to week we are showing significant improvement.”
After the back-to-back losses this weekend, the team has been focusing on what needs improvement and how to bounce-back quickly.
Frost kept ‘her glass half full’ over the weekend and has been looking towards the positives as well as the future.
“Sure, it’s disappointing that we lost, but it pinpointed a lot of things that we need to work on,” Frost said. “We just have to stick together as a team and not get upset about it.”
The Rock’s next competition will be tomorrow evening as they continue PSAC action against the Clarion University (2-4, 0-2 PSAC).
They will return home on Dec. 18 for a home match against West Chester University at 5:30 pm.
