Boxscore

WEST CHESTER, PA—Despite having three players scoring in double figures, the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team loses a heartbreaker to West Chester, 65-62 on Sunday afternoon. The Rock, 3-10 overall, have loss the last three games entering conference play on Wednesday. 

Senior Julie Molloy scored a career-high 25 points shooting 5-9 from behind the arch, and also led the team with seven rebounds. Grace Palucis and Bethany Caudill scored 11 and 10 points respectively with Nikki Presto leading all players with seven assists. 

Alex Lennon scored 13 points off the bench for the Rams (10-3 overall) and Renata Neal recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Neal also recorded four blocks and Megan Stewart forced six steals. 

West Chester held the lead until four minutes left in the first half when Molloy hit a jumper in the paint to take a one point, 24-23 lead. In the final two minutes SRU scored eight unanswered points to take a 31-29 lead in to the half. 

In the second half, The Rock held the by as many as 10 points through the entire half, with the Rams surging back in the final seven minutes. The Rams went on a 12-4 run in a five minute pan to hold a two point, 61-59 lead. 

With a minute to go, Lennon connected on a layup after she crashed the glass off of a missed three-point attempt by Stewart to go ahead by four points. Molloy then responded with a three-pointer from Presto to come within one with 47 second left in the game. 

West Chester held the ball and The Rock did not foul as Allison Hostetter connected with 15 seconds left in the game, giving the Rams the three-point lead back. 

After a Slippery Rock timeout with 13 seconds left Caudill missed a three-point attempt, but the ball stayed with SRU as Palucis grabbed the rebound and attempted a layup as time expired, but did not convert, losing by three, 65-62. 

The Rock shot 45.1% (23-51) from the floor and 45% (9-20) from behind the arch. SRU did win the assist category, 16-13. 

The Rams shot 44.8% (26-58) from the floor and 33.3% (3-9) from three-point range. West Chester out rebounded (38-26) and forced more steals (16-9) than The Rock. 

Both teams recording over 25 turnovers (29 for WC and 27 for SRU) and shot over 70% from the foul line (77.8% for SRU and 71.4% for WC). 

The Rock will open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division play on Wednesday at Morrow Field House. SRU will host Mercyhurst at 6 pm. This is the second straight year The Rock will open conference play against the Lakers.