The Slippery Rock women’s basketball team (7-12, 3-12 PSAC) were simply unable to stop a determined Gannon University Wednesday, dropping game two of their season series by 22 points.
Gannon defeated SRU 72-50.
The Golden Knights were unstoppable on the offensive end to begin the game, bursting past the Rock with an early 17-6 run. Gannon was able to hold the momentum through out the games opening 20 minutes, entering halftime with an alarming 40-15 lead.
Despite the sluggish first half, Slippery Rock was able to outscore the Golden Knights in the second half 35-32, but were still unable to make up for the early deficit and ultimately losing the game. The Green and White shot 42.9 percent from the field in the second half, compared to their 20 percent effort in the first.
“It’s just been a pattern for this season for ourselves to get into a hole,” SRU head coach Bobby McGraw said. “We had some good looks in the first half that we just simply did not convert. And then in the second half we simply out play and out rebound them, but we were so far behind a team who’s been nationally ranked and will be nationally ranked again and it was just way too large of a hole to climb out of.”
Senior forward D’Asia Chambers, who scored her 1,000 career point in late December, led the Rock’s scoring with 13 points. Rock sophomore guard Audrey Stapleton was also able to contribute nine points to SRU’s offense, while freshman guard Shannon Jack scored eight.
As a team, Slippery Rock shot 9-16 from three-point range, a season best. Jack and junior guard Erica Aiello both put in two three pointers apiece during the contest, while Chambers, Stapleton, junior guard Taylor Siggers and sophomore guard Olkosky were each able to score once from beyond the arc.
Chambers, Siggers, senior forward Danielle Garroutte and junior forward Megan Hardiman each led their squad with four rebounds, as the Rock lost the advantage in rebounds to Gannon 46-31.
Gannon’s scoring was led by senior center Nettie Blake as she recorded a double-double with 19 points and 16 rebounds.
The Rock returns to play on Saturday when they will travel to the University of Pitt-Johnstown (9-10, 6-9 PSAC) where they will take on the Mountain Cats. Despite Wednesday’s loss, The Rock remains just two games behind Mercyhurst University who currently own the final playing spot in the PSAC Conference Tournament.
“These girls have worked so hard and they deserve to get a taste of this conference tournament,” McGraw said. “On Saturday, we are playing a team we are very capable of beating. There was some poor coaching on my part in that first game we had against UPJ that ended up costing us the game. If we can go into their place and get a win, then we are right back in playoff contention.”
