EDINBORO, Pa. – A slow start doomed the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team Wednesday night at McComb Fieldhouse in an 83-66 loss at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division play.
 
The loss drops The Rock's record to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in league play. Edinboro improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in conference competition with the win. 
 
Junior guard Lexi Carpenter produced her second 20-point contest of the season with a team-high 22 points to go with seven assists and two rebounds. Carpenter, who entered the game shooting just 33 percent from the field, had a terrific shooting performance, going 8-for-16 from the field and 6-for-7 from the foul line.
 
Sophomore guard Ciara Patterson also had a hot hand for The Rock Wednesday, shooting 6-for-12 from the field overall which included a 4-for-7 mark from 3-point range for 16 points. Patterson's aggressive defense resulted in three steals.
 
Sophomore forward Mallory Heinle and senior guard Erica Aiello added nine and seven points, respectively, while freshman forward Morgan Henderson scored a season-high six points.
 
Slippery Rock played Edinboro tight through the last three quarters as EU outscored SRU by just seven points in the final 30 minutes. However, a first quarter in which Slippery Rock was outscored by 10 points proved too much to overcome.
 
Edinboro jumped out to an 11-4 lead through the opening five minutes of the first quarter behind six quick points from EU's Aignee' Freeland. SRU kept its deficit between seven and eight points for the remainder of the first quarter until Katie Fischer hit a jumper at the buzzer to send the Fighting Scots into the second quarter leading 20-10.
 
Edinboro pushed its lead to as many as 16 points at 32-16 before Slippery Rock responded with an impressive 10-0 run that cut Edinboro's lead down to six points with 3:02 left in the first half. The run was sparked by matching 3-pointers from Patterson and Heinle as well as a jumper from junior guard Audrey Stapleton and two free throws from Carpenter.
 
Fischer proceeded to sink a pair of 3-pointers as part of a 9-2 run that pushed EU's lead back to double-digits. However, Patterson sent The Rock into halftime on a high note by connecting on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it a 41-31 game at the break.
 
Slippery Rock traded baskets with Edinboro throughout the entirety of the third quarter and a successful free throw by Carpenter in the final moments of the quarter cut Edinboro's lead to 54-45 with 10 minutes left in regulation.
 
SRU continued to stay close with Edinboro in the fourth quarter, but The Rock couldn't quite rattle off a much-needed big run to make a comeback possible as Edinboro closed out the 83-66 win by scoring 17 of the games final 29 points.
 
Fischer led Edinboro with 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Freeland also chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds for the Fighting Scots.
 
For the game, EU outrebounded The Rock 43-27 while shooting 50.8 percent (30-for-59) from the field and 45.5 percent (10-for-22) from three-point range. Slippery Rock hit 41 percent of its shots (25-for-61) and forced Edinboro into 20 turnovers while also holding edges on the Fighting Scots in bench points (17-14), steals (12-7) and points off turnovers (16-13).
 
Other top performers for The Rock included senior forward Megan Hardiman and sophomore guard Krista Pietropola. Hardiman tied Aiello for a Rock-best three steals while Pietropola pulled down six rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock will look to bounce back from the defeat with a pair of PSAC wins this Saturday and Sunday at Morrow Field House. Slippery Rock will first host Mansfield 1 p.m. Saturday before playing Lock Haven 1 p.m. Sunday.