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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Julie Molloy and KellyAnn Staudinger each scored 16 points Tuesday night to lead The Rock to its third successive win, a 71-61 triumph over visiting Mercyhurst in non-conference action in Morrow Field House.

Amanda Nero added 10 points and five assists for SRU (3-1), while  Nikki Presto had a solid all-around game with nine points, a team-high six rebounds and four steals and also handed out three assists.

Butler High School graduate Amy Achesinski scored a game-high 22 points for Mercyhurst (1-4), while Paris Pugliese added 11 points.

The Rock never trailed in the game as Presto buried a 3-pointer one minute to action to account for the first points of the game.

SRU held a double-digit lead throughout the final 10 minutes of the opening half en route to a 16-point, 38-22, advantage at halftime and held a pair of 18-point advantages in the first 12 minutes of the second half.

But Mercyhurst refused to go quietly. The Lakers, after trailing by a 59-41 margin with eight minutes left to play, outscored SRU by a 19-6 margin in the next six and a half minutes to trim the lead to only five points, 65-60, with 1:30 remaining.

The Rock regrouped to hold the Lakers to only one point in the final 90 seconds while hitting six of nine free throw opportunities to ice the win.

The Rock will now turn its attention to a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference "crossover" games next weekend at West Chester and Millersville, both of which are currently unbeaten.