Slippery Rock University Women’s basketball team traveled to East Stroudsburg for their first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup this season. The Rock would emerge victorious from the Wednesday afternoon matchup, edging the Warriors by a score of 75-68. The win improves SRU’s record to an overall record of 3-4 and 1-0 in conference play, while East Stroudsburg falls to 3-4 (1-1).
A game that was back and forth throughout, junior guard Brooke Hinderliter showed off her skill as a floor general and proved to be too much for ESU as she racked up a career-best 33 points. Hinderliter shot over 60 percent from the field and converted on all 11 of her free throws as well. To go along with her high scoring performance, Hinderliter also registered four rebounds and three assists during the course of 34 minutes.
Hinderliter’s 33-point performance moved her into 21st on Slippery Rock’s all-time scoring list, as she has produced 863 points in only 63 games. The junior star will likely move into 20th in program history in her next game, as she only needs two points to surpass Julie Molloy, who played for The Rock from the years 2007 to 2010.
The duo of redshirt senior Ciara Patterson and sophomore Daeja Quick both finishing with double-digit points on the night with 13 and 10, respectively, to round out The Rock’s top scorers.
Slippery Rock certainly came ready to play against East Stroudsburg, as they set the tone early by scoring the game’s first seven points. Shaky perimeter defense let the Warriors hang around, however, as they drilled four 3-point shots in the first quarter of play to keep the game close, only trailing SRU by a score of 20-19.
The Rock locked down their PSAC foes in the second quarter, only allowing 10 points in as many minutes. ESU turned the ball over more times (5) than they converted on field goals (4) in the second quarter, as the Green and White extinguished their once red-hot attack from beyond the 3-point arc and now led by a score of 36-29.
East Stroudsburg managed to trade blows with The Rock in the third quarter, edging The Rock in scoring and slowly erased SRU’s seven-point lead. It was anybody’s game heading into the fourth quarter, as Slippery Rock only held a 47-45 lead going into the final 10 minutes of play.
Uncharacteristic of the previous two quarters, there was an offensive explosion in the fourth quarter for the Green and White, as they scored as many points (28) in the fourth quarter as they did in the previous two. The Rock roared out to a 62-51 lead with just under six minutes to play in the game, but East Stroudsburg did not go down without a fight as they orchestrated a 16-8 run to cut The Rock’s lead back down to three with only 1:53 left on the clock.
In the game’s most pivotal moments, Slippery Rock’s guards in Hinderliter and Patterson were able to shut the door on the Warriors’ hopes of a comeback, combining for 5 of 6 from the free throw line, eventually securing the Green and White’s victory.
Slippery Rock had its most efficient game of the season, posting season highs in field goal percentage (.490), free throws made (24), and free throw percentage (.821).
Slippery Rock will look to add another conference win to their résumé as they open up a five-game home stand against West Chester University at Morrow Field House at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
