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ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team started its 2014-15 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division schedule on a down note Wednesday night in a 69-48 loss on the road to No. 13 Gannon University at the Hammermill Center.
 
The loss evens Slippery Rock's overall record to 1-1 on the year. Gannon, which is ranked 13^th in the nation by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, improves to 2-0 with the win.
 
As was the case in its season-opening win against Salem International, the Slippery Rock defense made life tough on its counterparts Wednesday, holding Gannon to a field goal percentage of 35.3 percent (24-for-68) and a three point shooting percentage of 16.7 percent (5-for-30). Gannon's 69 points was also 25 fewer than the Golden Knights scored in its victory over regional powerhouse Glenville State to start the year.
 
However, Slippery Rock was unable to get going offensively for much of the night, finishing 17-for-56 from the field (30.4 percent) and 15.4 percent (2-for-13) from beyond the arc.
 
For a second consecutive game, senior forward D'Asia Chambers led The Rock in both scoring and rebounding by cumulating a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds. The double-double effort was the 16^th of her career and the fourth in her last six games played. 
 
Freshman forward Mallory Heinle followed up on her impressive college debut by going 4-for-10 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free throw line to score 10 points in addition to grabbing a pair of rebounds and making two steals.
 
The duo of junior guard Taylor Siggers and senior forward Danielle Garroutte added seven points apiece with Siggers also pulling in six rebounds.
 
Junior guard Erica Aiello chipped in five points, a team-high four assists and two steals while junior guard Megan Hardiman rounded out the top performers with six rebounds in nine minutes off the bench.
 
Points were at a premium in the first half as neither team scored until Gannon's Brittany Batts converted a jumper nearly four minutes into the game. Gannon went on to open up a 16-point lead at 20-4 with 5:42 to play in the opening period, but Slippery Rock would cut the lead to just 10 points with a 6-0 run that featured a three-pointer from Chambers, a successful free throw by Garroutte and a layup by Siggers.
 
The Rock and Golden Knights went on to trade buckets before heading into halftime with Gannon leading 25-15.
 
SRU's much-improved defense held the high-scoring Gannon offense to its fourth lowest first half scoring output in the last 34 games as well as forcing the Golden Knights to shoot 29.4 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play. Heinle and Siggers provided the offense for The Rock with six and four points, respectively.
 
The two teams continued the back-and-forth play to start the second half with GU maintaining the 10-point edge at 35-25 through the first four minutes of the final period. However, a 15-4 Gannon run gave the Golden Knights a 21-point lead that they would not relinquish on the way to its second win of the season.
 
Jennie Thies led Gannon to the victory with a game-high of 25 points and 11 rebounds. Nettie Blake chipped in 15 rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock returns to the court when it opens up a seven-game homestand at Morrow Field House on Saturday against Pitt-Johnstown in PSAC competition. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.