Slippery Rock will make the trip north to Erie, Pa. to start their season against Davis & Elkins College and Glenville State University this weekend.
The White and Green will look to start off strong in their rebound from last year’s setback after improving their winning percentage each season from fall 2019 to spring 2023.
Davis & Elkins is coming into the Saturday game in a similar spot to The Rock, hoping for a bright start after a down season. The Senators went 2-24 overall and 1-19 in conference play a year ago.
The last time the two matched up on Nov. 12, 2022, Slippery Rock came out on top 79-75. Emily Venick, now a senior, logged a start in that game.
The Rock will be facing Glenville State University for the first time on Sunday, hoping to start off the all-time series 1-0 against the Mountain East Conference powerhouse.
Transferring in
SRU will benefit from the addition of four transfers, including three from NCAA DI and one from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West division.
Brooklyn Jones, Tahmala Thorpe and Kayley Joseph-Bernard arrive from DI programs, while Mairan Haggerty hails from Seton Hill University.
Jones and Haggerty both come from western Pa., with the former’s hometown being Pittsburgh and the latter’s New Castle, Pa.
Jones is a graduate student originally from Niagara University before playing her senior year with Morgan State University. The guard made the 2022-23 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) All-Academic Team. The three-time City League Champion with Taylor Allderdice high school earned 2017-18 City League Player of the Year honors.
Thorpe made two starts at the University of Akron, appeared in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Quarterfinals in 2023 and was a multi-sport athlete in high school. The graduate student guard played basketball, track and field, and flag football at Loyola Catholic Secondary School.
Joseph-Bernard made 21 of 45 shots over 44 games played with Hofstra University. The junior forward is originally from Oakville, Ontario where she played for King’s Christian Collegiate School and played club basketball for the Milton Stags and Become One.
Haggerty played in 20 games and made a 2024 PSAC Tournament appearance at California University (Pa.) with Seton Hill. The forward tallied a career-best five rebounds against The Rock at Morrow Field House on Feb. 3.
The sophomore was a two-time Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) Champion, one-time Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) State Champion, broke Neshannock’s record for three-pointers and points in one game and won several individual accolades in her time at high school.
New kids at The Rock
The White and Green also brought in three freshman newcomers for this season with two, Hannah Pugliese and Rebecca Goetz, hailing from Pittsburgh.
Pugliese played basketball and softball for Penn Hills high school, earning two EPIAL first team All-Section honors and crossing the 1,000 point mark on the court. The freshman guard’s brother, Luke Pugliese, is a redshirt sophomore offensive lineman on Slippery Rock’s football team.
Goetz won a WPIAL championship in both basketball and soccer while at Avonworth. The forward also hit 1,000 points en route to earning All-Section honors.
Ava Darney does not come from too far away herself as she joins the team from Youngstown, Ohio’s John F. Kennedy Catholic. The forward was versatile in her athletics, lettering in basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer and track and field at least once in high school.
Darney was named All-State or an All-State honorable mention in all four years of her high school career. The freshman also earned three All-County first team honors and one All-County second team honor.
The path to PSAC play
After the Atlantic Region Challenge, The Rock will have two more out-of-conference games before beginning conference play.
The White and Green’s home opener is slated for next Wednesday against Malone University. It will be the first game following the Sunday matchup with Glenville.
SRU then heads to Salem, W Va. to play Salem University in their final tune-up before their conference opener against West Chester University at Morrow Field House on Nov. 22 at 3 p.m.
