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UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team opened its 2013-14 season with an 86-65 loss to Ursuline College Saturday night in a non-conference game played at John Carroll University.

The Rock trailed by just six at halftime but was outscored by 15 in the second half as Ursuline pulled away for the win.

Saturday's game was the season opener for both squads.

Slippery Rock was led by three players in double figure scoring, headlined by Alexas Brown with 15 points and six assists. Jazmyne Frost made her return to the court and scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Aidan Geise added 12 points and six rebounds and Megan Hardiman capped the top performers for The Rock with six point and nine rebounds.

Slippery Rock made 23-of-72 attempts from the floor for a 31.9 percent efficiency, but struggled from long range, hitting just 5-of-30 3-point attempts (16.7 percent), and at the free throw line, knocking down 14-of-25 attempts (56 percent).

Ursuline was led by four players in double figured, including a game-high 16 point effort from Tajanee Wells. Jenny Grigsby added 15 points, Natalie Cook chipped in 12 points and Erica Huber added 10 points.

The Arrows shot 41.8 percent from the floor (28-of-67), 31.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (5-of-16) and 89.5 percent at the free throw line (25-of-30).

Slippery Rock posted a 48-42 advantage in total rebounds in the game,  but managed just 10 second chance points.

One of the deciding factors in the game was turnovers, where Ursuline turned 17 Slippery Rock turnovers into 22 points. The Arrows turned the ball over 13 times, leading to eight points for The Rock.

Ursuline never trailed in the game after the hosts scored the first points and jumped out to a 22-8 lead nine minutes into the game.

Slippery Rock rallied from there, outscoring the Arrows 22-14 the rest of the period to trail 36-30 at the break.

The Rock cut that margin down to just two points at 36-34 two minutes into the second half, but Ursuline responded with a 12-3 run over the next three minutes to make it 48-37.

Another long Ursuline run pushed it out to 66-45 with 9:17 to play and Slippery Rock could never recover from the deficit.

The Rock continues the season Tuesday, Nov. 12, when Wheeling Jesuit visits Morrow Field House at 6 p.m. for the first home game of the year.