The Rock’s women’s basketball losing streak hit five on Wednesday when they dropped another Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) contest against Clarion University of Pennsylvania. They haven’t been able to muster a win since they had an eight day break due to COVID-19 guidelines.
In the first quarter, they seemed to have taken control, like they have in their past two games. They’ve jumped out to a sizeable first quarter lead in all games. In this game, it was a 16-7 lead on the Golden Eagles, but that lead also evaporated.
The Rock has been in battles their past few games but continue to have early bursts that are not kept up. The COVID-19 pause in play has changed their style a bit, and according to Coach Robert McGraw it even disrupted the chemistry of the team. For those eight days, they didn’t have a game or practice. When they returned to the court, they were without their leader, Daeja Quick, due to protocols.
With Quick’s return, the pace has been slowly returning to what she has established. The Clarion game saw a bit of a setback though. Turnovers have been a major problem but since Daeja’s return they have been able to keep the ball more consistently.
In her absence, the California University of Pennsylvania (Cal-U) Vulcans were able to score the majority of their points off of turnovers. This game, Clarion only scored 16 points off turnovers.
Once again Jamiyah Johnson was able to post a double-double, but in the end The Rock was outlasted by Clarion. In the game, Kennedy Middleton also put up 19 points and seven rebounds.
Now in the midst of a streak that has seen them drop every game they’ve played since they returned to action, the women welcome rival Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) to town Saturday at 1 p.m.
This week though, there will be spectators allowed in Morrow Field House after there were none allowed last week. Against Cal-U, McGraw stated that it felt like an away game in their own building. With fans back, they’ll aim to end their losing streak.
