With a 66-50 loss to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks Saturday afternoon, Slippery Rock women’s basketball fell to 4-14 on the season and 1-7 in PSAC-West play. IUP ended their five-game losing streak and improved to 12-6 overall and 3-5 in the PSAC.
IUP now holds a 14 game win streak against the Rock with their last loss to SRU coming during the 2006-07 season.
Coming off a 75-70 overtime victory against Seton Hill, Slippery Rock hoped to put together their first two-game win streak since January of last year.
“We were very pleased with our second half performance against Seton Hill, both the aggressive offensive attack and our discipline on the defensive end,” head coach Tanya Longo said. “We certainly played a solid second half versus IUP but against a team as solid as IUP you need to play a full 40 minutes.”
SRU struggled out of the gate, shooting only 20.7 percent (6-29) in the first half for 17 points. Slippery Rock attempted nine three-point shots making only one in the first 20 minutes of the contest.
“Our team was quite disappointed in their start tonight,” Longo said. “We have a competitive bunch of players. I’m certain we’ll be ready to go from the tip Wednesday.”
IUP wasted no time in getting a sizeable lead against the Rock and ended the first half with 38 points and a 21-point lead. The Crimson Hawks shot 54.2 percent (13-24) overall and 50 percent (6-12) from behind the three-point arc.
“In the first half we were not going up to the basket to score. Shots we normally make just were not going in,” sophomore Aidan Geise said.
The second half of the game at Kovalchick Complex in Indiana, PA was an entirely different story.
Slippery Rock tallied 33 points in the second half, nearly doubling their total offense from the first half. SRU also improved their shooting to 48.3 percent (14-29) in the final 20 minutes.
IUP emulated the first half performance of the Rock, shooting 26.7 percent (8-30) from the field and totaling only 28 points in the second half. Eleven of the Crimson Hawks’ second half points came from the free-throw line.
Junior D’Asia Chambers recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds for SRU. Senior Jazmyne Frost scored 14 and grabbed seven rebounds. Geise added eight points for the Rock.
IUP was led by junior Leslie Stapleton with 22 points, 15 of those points coming from five successful three-point shots. Junior Marita Mathe contributed 11 points in the victory and junior Ashley Stoner added 10 points.
SRU will visit Clarion (7-11, 1-7 PSAC) on Wednesday night to begin the final eight-game stretch of the 2013-14 season.
“We look to build on our stingy defensive play with a balanced offensive attack and aggressive rebounding,” Longo said. “We showed we are capable of tonight in the second half (against IUP) but we need to do that for a full 40 minutes on Wednesday (against Clarion).”
The Rock and the Golden Eagles are set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
