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INDIANA, Pa. -- Fifth-ranked Indiana U. of Pa., aided by 21 points off 21 Rock turnovers, sidestepped an upset bid by the Green and White and recorded a 77-69 win Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action.

The loss overshadowed a strong individual effort by Rock junior guard Amanda Nero, who scored a game- and career-high 30 points, a team-high seven rebounds and five assists.

Nero made 10 of 15 shots from the floor, six of 11 shots from 3-point range and four of five free throw attempts to surpass her previous career-high scoring effort of 23 points Jan. 6 vs. Cheyney.

Senior post player Nijha McNeely had 17 points for The Rock, while sophomore win Julie Molloy and senior post KellyAnn Staudinger each finished with eight points and sophomore post Haley Gaidosh chipped in six points.

Gaidosh and Staudinger each had six rebounds, while Molloy had five rebounds and eight assists.

The Rock (7-11 overall, 1-2 PSAC-West) and IUP (17-1, 2-0) battled to a stalemate in the first 20 minutes of action as the score was tied at 40-40 at the intermission.

The score was tied five times and the lead changed hands seven times in the first half.

IUP scored the first four points of the second half, only to see SRU respond with eight unanswered points to take a 48-44 lead.

The Crimson Hawks came right back with a 14-2 run and held a 58-50 lead with 12 minutes left in the game.

The Rock clawed its way back to trim the deficit to two points, 66-64, on a 3-point shot by Nero and trailed by only three points (72-69) before IUP scored the final five points of the game to finish with an eight-point advantage.

The Rock shot a very respectable 47% (14 of 33) from the field, hit 42% (8 of 19) of its shots from beyond the arc and sank seven of nine (77.8%) of its free throws but could not overcome the damage done by its 21 turnovers.

IUP, which shot 36% (29 of 80) from the field, 32% (8 of 25) from 3-point range and 85% (11 of 13) from the foul line, committed only eight turnovers, which resulted in 11 Rock points.

The Rock is idle for one week before hosting division rival California U. of Pa. in a 6 p.m. game Jan. 30 in Morrow Field House.

SRU then entertains division rival Shippensburg in a 1 p.m. game Feb. 2.

Notes:

Nero's point total Wednesday night is the highest recorded by a Rock player since Jan. 22, 2003, when Missy McKavish poured in 36 points at Clarion. That was one of four times that season McKavish scored 30 or more points in a game.