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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team snapped a six-game losing skid with a 50-41 win over Cheyney Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover action from Morrow Field House.
Cheyney, winless on the season at 0-8 overall and 0-5 in the PSAC, fought back from an early 10-point deficit and hung around nearly the entire game. The Wolves tied the game twice in the final 6:01 before Slippery Rock (2-6, 1-4 PSAC) put together a 10-0 run down the stretch to pull away and seal the win.
The win is the second of the season for Slippery Rock on its home court, improving the team to 2-1 at home, and is the first win since the season-opening win over Urbana.
Erinne Cunningham knocked down her first three shots of the game and finished with a game-high 14 points to lead The Rock attack.
Alexas Brown added 11 points and
Simone Aladenoye chipped in seven points off the bench to cap the top scorers.
Erica Aiello led the team with a season-high five assists and
Emilee Vitez scored four points and grabbed a career and game-high 11 rebounds.
Slippery Rock finished the game shooting 31.9 percent from the field, connecting on 15-of-47 attempts, including 3-of-18 from beyond the 3-point arc (16.7 percent). The Rock was 17-of-25 at the free throw line (68.0 percent) and posted a 45-35 advantage on the glass.
Cheyney was led by Tamara Russell with 11 points, while Lachelle Miller added eight points, nine rebounds and four assists.
The Wolves shot 23.2 percent from the field (13-of-56), 23.1 percent from long range (3-of-13) and 75 percent from the free throw line (12-of-16).
Cheyney scored the first point of the game on a free throw that would prove to be the only lead of the game for the Wolves. Cunningham erased the early lead with a 3-pointer on the next possession and Slippery Rock would never trail the rest of the way.
The Rock opened up a 10-point lead on two occassions in the first half, 15-5 with 14:40 to play and 17-7 with 13:05 to play. Cheyney chipped away at the margin and cut it to three points, 18-15, with 4:31 to play before the break.
Slippery Rock pushed it out to a seven point margin with a 4-0 run before Cheyney answered with its own 4-0 run to make it 22-19 with 41 seconds left in the period. Brown knocked down a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left to make the halftime score 24-19 in favor of SRU.
Neither team shot the ball well in the opening period, with Slippery Rock knocking down just 9-of-29 attempts and Cheyney only making five field goals on 5-of-30 shooting.
Slippery Rock scored the first four points of the second half to open up a nine point lead, but Cheyney responded with a 6-0 run to make it 28-25 with 12:03 to play. The Rock answered with their own 6-0 run to regain a nine point lead, 34-25 with 8:40 to play.
Keeping with the theme of the game, Cheyney answered with a 9-0 run to tie the game for the first time, 34-34, with 6:01 to play.
Christa Wodarczyk broke the tie with a pair of free throws as Slippery Rock pushed the lead out to four points, 38-34, with 4:24 to play, before the Wolves rallied back to tie the game at 38-38 with 3:58 to play.
From there, Slippery Rock took over with a 10-0 run to open up a 48-38 lead with 1:40 to play, a margin Cheyney could never recover from.
Wednesday's game marked the last conference game of the calendar year, while The Rock will play one more game in 2012 when Lourdes visits Morrow Field House Dec. 30 for a 1 p.m. tip.
