Boxscore

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team had one of its top scoring efforts of the season Tuesday night in Morrow Field House against non-conference rival Pitt-Johnstown, but also had its poorest defensive effort.

The result was an 82-70 loss that dropped The Rock's season record to 2-5.

Pitt-Johnstown recorded its fourth win in seven games this winter largely due to the individual efforts of sophomore post player Monae Baker, who scored 27 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, both game-high totals.

Andrea Dalton added 14 pointgs and Qiuana Brown chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Cats.

The Rock was led in scoring by senior guard Chere' Marshall, who finished the game with 16 points, which matched her career-high mark. Senior guard Julie Molloy added 12 points in a substitute role and freshman forward Alex Beatty contributed nine points, also in a substitute role.

Senior guard Nikki Presto led The Rock in rebounding with five and scored seven points, while freshman guard Bethany Caudill chipped in eight points and freshman post player Tynesha Lee added seven points.

The Rock shot a respectable 47% (27 of 58) from the field and made 42% (5 of 12) of its 3-point shots, but hit only 58% (11 of 19) of its free throws.

Pitt-Johnstown had comparable shooting percentages: 42% (32 of 76) from the field, 35% (10 of 29) from 3-point range and 53% (8 of 15) from the foul line.

The decisive difference came in rebounding, where the Lady Cats dominated by a 52-27 margin. The guests were on the high end of a 17-15 turnover comparison.

Pitt-Johnstown scored 18 of the last 28 points in the first half of action to turn a 16-15 Rock lead at the midway mark of the period into a nine-point, 34-25, Lady Cats lead at the intermission.

Caudill hit a 3-pointer to open the second-half scoring and trim the margin to six points, but Pitt-Johnstown then went on a 15-3 run in the span of three minutes to take an 18-point, 49-31, lead with 16:30 left in the game.

The final 12-point margin was as close as The Rock would cut the deficit in the final 16 minutes. Pitt-Johnstown held its largest lead, a 20-point (76-56) advantage, with just less than seven minutes remaining.

Tuesday's game closed out a three-game homestand for The Rock, who return to action Friday with a 5:30  p.m. game against LeMoyne in opening-day action of the Comfort Inn Classic in Mansfield, Pa.

SRU meets Lake Erie at 1 p.m. Saturday in second-day Classic action, then is idle until Jan. 2 when it will host Cheyney in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference "crossover" game in Morrow Field House.

Notes: Marshall's point total Tuesday matched her output Feb. 25, 2009, at PSAC-Western Division rival California. Her previous season-high total this winter was nine points Dec. 3 vs. Penn State-Beaver ... The Rock's point total Tuesday was its second highest of the season, behind only a 76-point effort five days earlier in a win over Penn State-Beaver ... Pitt-Johnstown's point total Tuesday surpassed 75 points allowed Nov. 21 vs. Lake Erie as the highest recorded by a Rock rival this winter.