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SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Junior guard Amanda Nero scored a game-high 19 points Friday afternoon in The Rock's 54-53 loss to Southern New Hampshire in opening-day action of the Surf N Slam San Diego Classic at San Diego City College.

The loss was SRU's third straight and dropped the Green and White's season record to 4-6. Southern New Hampshire, which snapped a three-game slide, also owns a 4-6 record.

The Rock returns to action and concludes its Surf N Slam schedule at 1 p.m. Saturday, when it will take on Assumption (9-3), which received votes in the most recent Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II national poll.

The Rock held a three-point, 53-50, lead after KellyAnn Staudinger recorded a conventional three-point play with 1:47 left in the game before Southern New Hampshire scored four unanswered points to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The final-minute scenario was deja vu for SRU, which held a nine-point (27-18) lead with 38 seconds left in the first half, only to see the Penmen close the deficit to four points (29-25) with a 7-2 run to conclude the opening half of action.

Nero scored 15 of her points in the opening half but was held to only four second-half points.

SRU held a 12-5 lead early in the game before SNHU rode a 10-2 run to a 15-14 lead with 6:15 left in the first half. The Rock responded with a 13-3 run to take the aforementioned 27-18 lead.

In the final 20 minutes, Southern New Hampshire held three six-point leads, the last a 44-38 advantage with 6:47 left to play. The Rock used a 10-4 spurt to tie the game at 48-48 on a Staudinger basket with just over three minutes to play.

The Rock outrebounded SNHU by a 34-32 margin and shot 43.2% compared to the Penmen's 35.8% effort from the floor, but committed 25 turnovers that led to 21 Southern New Hampshire points.