It had been a month and eight days since The Rock women last added to the win column. In that time, they dropped 10 straight contests. Suddenly, a team that started out 10-3 and was receiving votes to be ranked, now finds themselves at a record of 11-13.
The losing streak included two overtime losses in pivotal conference games, with one coming against Millersville University of Pennsylvania and the other coming against Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Off the heels of the double overtime loss to the Crimson Hawks, the Rock welcomed Mercyhurst University to town.
The game kicked off with a score from Jamiyah Johnson, who has proved herself to be an automatic double-double this season. The first quarter was highly contested in the first few minutes of action as The Rock and the Lakers traded blows. Eventually Slippery Rock took command and at the end of the first period held a 21-13 lead.
The second quarter saw The Rock shave off a run from the Lakers with two three pointers. The first coming from Bella Long and the second coming from Deleah Gibson. A few minutes later, The Rock went on a 7-0 run that spanned a little over two minutes. However, at the half they held only a two-point lead.
As the second half begun, they went on another run. This time it was 10-0 run that lasted for nearly five minutes. Once again, the Lakers refused to lay down. They fought all the way back and cut the lead to just two once again. At the end of the third period, The Rock carried just a three-point lead.
That lead vanished as soon as the final quarter began. A three pointer from Grace Clary knotted the game at 49. From there, the Lakers had their own run that put them up by six points, until Daeja Quick stopped the bleeding with a three-point shot. Two free throws from Quick cut the lead to just one with over six minutes to play in the game.
Despite efforts to put The Rock away, Quick continued to keep Slippery Rock alive. The Lakers held a two-point lead with just seventeen seconds to go, but once again Quick kept The Rock in it. Just before the game expired, Quick put in a layup to send the game to overtime. The Rock had a chance to end their losing streak.
In overtime, the lead changed three times and featured three ties. But in the end, Quick and company were able to hold off Mercyhurst’s comeback attempt and return to the win column. Now with only four games left, every game has meaning for The Rock. The women return to action on Saturday when they’ll face another foe from Erie: Gannon University.
