Jan. 7, 2006

Box Score

Sunday's game on the Internet

Cheyney, Pa. - A strong opening kick in the final half of action paved the road to victory Saturday afternoon as The Rock downed hosting Cheyney, 58-55, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference "crossover" action in Cope Gym.

SRU outscored the hosts by a 24-8 margin in the first 12 minutes of the second half to erase a 33-24 halftime deficit that had been expanded to 12 points (38-26) in the opening minutes of the final stanza.

The Rock never trailed in the final 12 minutes of action, but was also unable to put the Lady Wolves away until the final minute, when senior guard Amber McFeely came through in the clutch.

McFeely she found Amanda Chojnacki open inside for a layup to put The Rock up by five, 56-51, with just less than a minute left to play, then nailed both ends of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with 11 seconds left to ice the win.

With the win, The Rock snapped a three-game losing skid and evened its record at 6-6. SRU is 3-1 in "crossover" action this winter.

Cheyney suffered its third straight loss and fell to 3-8 on the year, 0-5 in home games.

Chojnacki and Jessica Schake shared team-high scoring honors with 13 points each, while McFeely had 12 points and six assists.

Chojnacki also led The Rock in rebounding with eight.

Sloppy ballhandling and a 33% shooting effort from the floor by The Rock allowed Cheyney to run off 12 unanswered points and take a double-digit lead midway through the first half.

The Lady Wolves maintained that advantage throughout the final nine minutes of the half and took a 33-24 advantage into intermission.

Cheyney extended its lead to 12 points, 38-26, early in the second half before The Rock assumed control of the proceedings.

But the Lady Wolves refused to go quietly. Cheyney trimmed the lead to two points (48-46) with six minutes left and cut the difference to one point twice, 52-51 with 2:30 left and 56-55 with 11.5 seconds left.

SRU will conclude its two-day, PSAC "crossover" weekend road trip with a 1 p.m. game Sunday at Millersville.

The Rock then opens the PSAC-Western Division schedule on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. date with defending division champion California U. of Pa. in Morrow Field House.