Boxscore
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University's bid for a berth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference women's basketball playoffs were dashed Saturday afternoon when The Rock lost a 72-52 decision to 17th-ranked Indiana (Pa.) and Clarion defeated Edinboro, 80-65.
The Rock loss and Clarion win left the two teams with identical 6-8 division records and tied for fourth place in the final PSAC-Western Division standings.
Only one of the teams could earn a berth in the conference playoffs, though, and that berth was awarded to Clarion (12-15) by virtue of a superior record against NCAA Division II teams with a .500 or better winning percentage.
Thus, The Rock finished the 2008-09 season with an 11-16 overall record and will not compete in the conference tournament for a third consecutive season.
Indiana (22-5, 11-3 PSAC-W) will be the PSAC-West's third seed in the conference tournament and will visit second-seeded Gannon for a first-round game Tuesday.
The Rock effort Saturday was led by two of the three seniors who played their final collegiate game. Post player
Sasha Sales collected her seventh “double-double” of the season with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Guard
Amanda Nero also finished the game with 12 points and junior wing
Julie Molloy added 11 points.
For Indiana, All-America candidate Jahzinga Tracey scored a game-high 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Kylie Miller added 13 points and Staci Heberling chipped in 11.
The Rock shot a white-hot 61.9% (13 of 21) from the field in the first half, including a 4-of-6 effort from 3-point range, while Indiana shot 38.9% (14-36) from the field. But The Rock had nothing to show for the discrepancy, thanks to 15 first-half turnovers.
Indiana took a three-point, 33-30 lead into the intermission, helped along by 13 points scored as the direct result of Rock turnovers. SRU, on the other hand, scored seven points off Indiana's eight first-half miscues.
The Rock hit seven of its first eight shots and 10 of its initial 14 attempts and, as a result, held three six-point leads in the opening 10 minutes of action, the last one a 22-16 advantage at the midway mark of the opening half.
Indiana then went on a 14-0 run in the next six minutes to take its largest lead of the period, an eight-point, 30-22, advantage with 4:15 left before the intermission.
That set the stage for an eight-point Rock run – keyed by a pair of treys by Molloy -- that tied the score at 30-30 with two minutes left before Indiana scored the final three points of the first half..
Indiana continued its run at the start of the final stanza as the guests scored nine of the first 11 second-half points to take a 42-32 lead with 16:30 left to play.
The Rock responded with six unanswered points to trim the deficit to four points (42-38) with 14 minutes left, only to see Indiana retaliate with a 14-0 run to take a 56-38 lead with 9:30 left in the game.
The Crimson Hawks' lead was never less than 15 points in the final nine minutes of action.
The Rock finished the game with a respectable 47.8% (22 of 46) efficiency on its action shots, hit 42.9% (6-14) from 3-point range and sank two of its four free throw opportunities.
The Green and White committed 29 turnovers, compared to 12 for Indiana, and were outrebounded by 35-33 margin.
Indiana ended the game with a 42.3% (30 of 71) efficiency from the field, hit six of 20 (30%) from beyond the arc and made six of eight free throws.
