Three double-digit scorers proved not enough for The Rock women’s basketball, as they fell 80-65 in their home opener to Malone University on Wednesday.
The White and Green got out to a 14-6 lead just over five minutes in after back-to-back three-pointers, courtesy of Alyssa Gillian and Regan Atkins, but Malone evened the score at 14.
Despite the Pioneers grabbing the lead back, the fast start was a good sign and something The Rock hopes to build on.
“Us jumping out like that is really important because last year, that was exactly what we struggled with,” head coach Ryenn Micaletti said.” To show the flip side, we did that against a team that is pre-season second in the league with Ashland.”
Doing it against a team ranked near Ashland University in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference only makes it a better sign, as the Eagles went 20-0 in conference play last season and won a national championship in 2023.
The first 10 minutes saw at least one strong scoring run from both sides and the period ended with a 22-21 Pioneer lead.
Malone separated themselves further in the second quarter after scoring six unanswered points to start the period then taking a 41-35 lead into halftime.
The Rock cut the lead in the third quarter, sinking three triples and outscoring Malone by three, but the Pioneers put forth their best in the final 10 minutes to finish off SRU.
Rebounds were a big part of the story, as Malone had 39 to the White and Green’s 22. Micaletti said more practice reps are necessary to bridge that gap moving forward.
“It’s really simple, its practice. We’ll spend a lot of time doing that over the next few days,” Micaletti said.
Regan Atkins shined again for SRU, totaling 21 points and eight rebounds, both team highs. The guard was one of three Rock athletes to sink three shots from behind the arc, the others being Sophia Hook and Gillin.
The Rock have made their three-pointers at a higher than 40% clip in every game so far in this young season.
“I love it. I absolutely love it and I do think it puts us in a position to win because if they have to guard us out there, it gives us a lot more space to get downhill and score at the rim,” Micaletti said.
Both Gillin and Hook had double-digit points.
Kayley Joseph-Bernard and Tahmala Thorpe tied for the team lead with six assists.
Malone’s Erin Kaufman was a problem in the paint for The Rock. The 6-foot-1 center led the Pioneers in points with 22, rebounds with 12 and assists with 5.
SRU is now 1-2 overall with one more game remaining to iron out any issues before they begin conference play.
“We have little things that we need to fix. I think our team is very talented. I think they love each other and that is the culture we have. I think they enjoy the game and I think they are ready to grow,” Micaletti said. “There are just little things we need to do more way more consistently to take us to the level we want to be at.”
The Rock heads to Salem University for a road tilt tomorrow at 2 p.m. before returning to Morrow Field House to start their Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schedule.
