Boxscore
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Senior post player
Sasha Sales recorded her fourth "double-double" in the last five games Saturday afternoon but the effort wasn't enough to lead The Rock to victory.
Visiting Clarion (6--10, 1-3) outscored the Green and White by a 49-36 margin in the second half Saturday to secure a 72-64 win in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action in Morrow Field House.
Sales (pictured above) scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for The Rock, who suffered their second straight loss and saw its season record fall to 6-11 overall, 1-3 in division action.
She was one of three Rock players to finish the game with a double-figure scoring total. Junior post player
Jess Schake scored 13 points, while senior guard
Amanda Nero added 12 points. Senior wing player Chere' Marshall contributed nine points, five rebounds and six assists to The Rock attack.
The Rock trailed throughout the first 15 minutes of action and found itself down by 13 points, 18-5, with 11 minutes left before halftime before it went on a 13-0 run to tie the score at 18-18 with 4:45 left. That keyed a 23-5 Rock run in the final 11 minutes that gave SRU a 28-23 lead at the intermission.
Clarion scored the first six points of the second half to take a 29-28 lead two minutes into the final 20-minute stanza to start a span of give-and-take by the teams.
Six lead changes and four ties later, Clarion took the lead for good at 49-48 with 8:45 left to play.
The Golden Eagles held a pair fo 13-point leads in the final eight minutes, the final one a 68-55 advantage with just more than one minute left.
Clarion made 50% (13 of 26) of its second-half field goal attempts to finish the game with a 45.7% (21 of 46) efficiency. The Golden Eagles nailed 11 of 21 (52.4%) of its 3-point shots in the game and sank 19 of 26 free throws (73.1%).
The Rock, meanwhile, bounced back from a 28.9% (11 of 38) field goal shooting effort in the first half to finish the game with a 35.7% (25 of 70) efficiency. SRU hit 28.6% (6 of 21) from beyond the arc and eight of 12 (66.7%) of its free throws.
Clarion held a slim 38-37 advantage in rebounds, but was on the high side of a 29-21 turnover comparison.
Lizzie Suwala scored a game-high 22 points for Clarion.
The Rock embarks on a two-game road trip Wednesday when it travels to Lock Haven for a 6 p.m. PSAC-West game. Next Saturday, SRU is at Indiana (Pa.) for a 5:30 p.m. game.
The next Rock home game is Febb, 4, when California (Pa.) invades Morrow Field House for a 6 p.m. game as part of SRU's "Green-Out Night" event. All Rock fans are urged to wear green to the game.
