Boxscore
EDINBORO, Pa. -- The Rock cashed a huge gut-check and moved into a tie for fourth place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division standings Saturday afternoon with a 73-64 victory over hosting Edinboro.
The win was SRU's second in as many meetings with Edinboro this winter, which could prove to be very important.
The Rock (9-14 overall) and Edinboro (13-10) are tied for fourth place in the division standings. If they finish the season deadlocked for that spot, SRU would advance to the conference playoffs and Edinboro would stay home by virtue of the head-to-head results.
SRU, which beat Edinboro by an 82-64 margin Jan. 17 in Morrow Field House, seeks to return to the conference tournament after a two-year hiatus.
Adding lustre to Saturday's win was the fact that it was recorded with starting point guard
Nikki Presto sidelined due to an injury.
Senior Chere' Marshall, junior
Sandra Busser and sophomore
Robin Vlah stepped into the leadership role Saturday and brought home the win.
Senior post player
Haley Gaidosh (pictured above) led The Rock scoring attack with 17 points, which earned her a share of game-high honors. Junior wing player
Julie Molloy added 13 points, while senior guard
Amanda Nero and junior post player
Jess Schake each had nine points.
Senior post player
Sasha Sales chipped in eight points and a team-high seven rebounds and Nero added six rebounds.
The Rock finished the game with a 45.8% (27 of 59) efficiency from the field, hit three of seven (42.9%) from 3-point range and canned 16 of 22 (72.7%) free throws.
Edinboro shot 36.5% (23 of 63) from the field, 28.6% (6 of 21) from beyond the arc and 12 of 18 free throws.
Edinboro enjoyed a 45-32 rebounding advantage but had more turnovers, 21-13.
The Rock trailed by nine points (43-34) at the intermission but outscored the hosts by a 38-21 margin in the final 20 minutes.
Edinboro extended its lead to 12 points, 50-38, in the first three and a half minutes of the final half but was outscored by a 17-4 margin in the next six-plus minutes as SRU took a 55-54 lead with 11 minutes left to play.
A minute later, with the score tied at 57-57, The Rock began a 16-7 run to the final buzzer.
SRU returns to action at 6 p.m. Wednesday, when it will host last-place Lock Haven in a division game in Morrow Field House.
