Boxscore
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. -- The Rock cashed a substantial gutcheck Sunday afternoon when it handed 15th-ranked Shippensburg a 70-61 setback in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference "crossover" action.
Junior guards
Nikki Presto and
Julie Molloy paced a balanced Rock attack with 12 and 11 points, respectively. They were two of seven SRU players who scored seven or more points in the game.
Presto also handed out four assists. Senior guard
Amanda Nero had a team-high six assists to go along with seven points and five rebounds and junior post player
Jess Schake grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.
Senior wing player
Alissa Schake chipped in nine points, senior post players
Haley Gaidosh and
Sasha Sales added eight points each and sophomore wing player
Grace Palucis finished with seven points.
The win gave SRU a 5-6 record as it turns its attention to the Jan. 10 home PSAC "crossover" game vs. Millersville in Morrow Field House.
Sunday's loss was the fourth straight suffered by Shippensburg, which saw its season record fall to 6-5.
The Rock never trailed in the second half of action and iced the win with an 11-for-14 efficiency from the foul line in the final two minutes.
The teams battled on even terms throughout the early going before The Rock pulled out to a five-point (13-8) lead with just less than 13 minutes left in the opening half. That was one of three five-point advantages the Green and White had in the span of seven minutes.
Shippensburg battled back to take a 28-26 lead with 3:45 left before Molloy nailed back-to-back 3-point shots to push SRU to a 32-28 advantage. After Shippensburg scored the next four points to retie the count, Sales canned a pair of free throws to put SRU up by a 34-32 heading into the intermission.
A 9-2 Rock run midway through the second half extended the guests' lead to 12, 53-41, with eight minutes left to play.
The largest Rock leads were a pair of 13-point margins, the final one a 66-53 advantage with one minute left to play.
Six different Rock players attempted free throws in the final two minutes as the hosts salted away the win. Nero, Presto, Sales and
Alissa Schake each canned both of their charity tosses during that span, while Molloy was 2-for-4 and
Jess Schake 1-for-2.
The stretch-run free throw shooting prowess gave The Rock an 18 of 25 (72%) effort at the stripe. The Green and White shot 39.3% (24 of 61) from the field and 57.1% (4 of 7) from 3-point range.
Shippensburg shot 38% (23 of 61) from the field, 33.3% (7 of 21) from beyond the arc and 57% (8 of 14) from the foul line.
The Raiders won the rebounding battle by a 42-40 margin.
The Rock, after hosting Millersville in the Jan. 10 game, turn around and entertain West Chester the following day in a 1 p.m. "crossover" game in Morrow Field House.
