Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – A scoreless stretch by the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team that lasted nearly seven minutes in the first half allowed Mercyhurst to break open the game en route to a 66-48 win Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action.

Slippery Rock (3-21, 1-11 PSAC) scored the first five points of the game and owned a four-point lead after seven minutes of play, but Mercyhurst (15-12, 7-5 PSAC) used separate runs of 12-0 and 16-0 and held The Rock scoreless for stretches of 4:08 and 6:56 to break open a 20-point first half lead, an advantage that the visitors would never overcome.

Danielle Smith led SRU with 14 points and five rebounds. Sherita Stanley added 12 points and a game-high seven assists and Julie Byer chipped in seven points.

The Rock finished the game shooting 35.8 percent from the field, connecting on 19-of-53 attempts, including 4-of-18 from beyond the 3-point arc. Slippery Rock was 7-of-11 at the free throw line.

Mercyhurst was led by Amy Achesinski with game-highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds. Samantha Loadman added 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Lakers shot 47.2 percent for the game, hitting 25-of-53 attempts, including 6-of-14 from the 3-point line. Mercyhurst was 9-of-15 at the charity stripe and finished the game with an advantage of 42-24 in total rebounds.

The Rock opened the game strong, scoring the first five points and widening the lead to 8-2 after the first four minutes of play. The Lakers answered with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 8-8 before the visitors notched the next four points to push the lead out to 12-8 with 13:39 left before halftime.

This time, Mercyhurst answered with a definitive 12-0 run to open up a 20-12 lead midway through the period. A jumper from Grace Palucis with 9:31 to play ended a scoreless stretch of 4:08 to make the score 20-14.

The Lakers responded again, this time with a 14-0 run to break open a 34-14 lead with 3:30 left before the intermission. A layup from Danielle Smith with 2:35 to play stopped a scoreless drought of 6:56, but the hosts maintained the 20-point edge and took a 41-21 lead into the break.

Slippery Rock cut the lead to 14 points on four occasions in the second half, the most recent coming at 62-48 with 2:42 to play, but the visitors could not cut any further into the deficit.

SRU will travel to Gannon Wednesday before returning home to Morrow Field House Saturday to close out the season against Edinboro.