SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team shot 56.4 percent from the field en route to an impressive 87-62 victory against Mansfield University Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play at Morrow Field House.
 
The 25-point victory was Slippery Rock's largest PSAC win since defeating Lock Haven University by 29 points in 2008-09. SRU's field goal percentage was the highest for the program since The Rock shot 56.5 percent against Gannon University in 2010-11.
 
The victory improves The Rock's record to 3-1 on the season overall and 1-1 in league play. Mansfield drops to 1-1 both overall and in conference competition after the loss.
 
Four Rock players scored in double figures with junior guard Lexi Carpenter leading the way with a 17-point, nine-assist, five-rebound, two-steal performance. Carpenter went 7-for-11 from the field overall and 3-for-3 from the foul line to improve her season free throw shooting percentage to 88.5.
 
Junior guard Audrey Stapleton added 16 points, two off of her career-high, while also tallying two rebounds and one block.
 
Senior guard Erica Aiello and sophomore guard Ciara Patterson rounded out The Rock's top scorers with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Patterson made her presence known throughout the game on defense by making five steals. She has recorded eight steals in the last two games.
 
Senior forward Megan Hardiman, who scored seven points, and sophomore guard Krista Pietropola paced Slippery Rock's effort on the glass with matching six-rebound efforts.
 
Slippery Rock, which entered the game averaging seven made 3-pointers per game, went 8-for-16 from long range Saturday to go with an 89.5 percent (17-for-19) mark from the foul line.
 
Defensively, SRU held Mansfield to a 35.8 (19-for-53) shooting percentage while also forcing the Mountaineers into 18 turnovers, which Slippery Rock scored 27 points off of.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock held advantages over Mansfield in points in the paint (42-20), fast break points (14-0) and bench points (32-21).
 
The Mountaineers kept the game close through the first quarter and the majority of the second period until Slippery Rock made a 10-4 run in the final 2:58 of the second half to take a 38-25 lead into halftime.
 
The run was sparked by one free throw from Stapleton, one 3-pointer from Hardiman and back-to-back 3-pointers by Patterson. Carpenter assisted on all three 3-pointers during the spurt.
 
Mansfield cut SRU's lead down to nine points with 3:39 left in the third quarter, before Slippery Rock put the game away with a commanding 12-3 run to end the quarter ahead 60-42. SRU quickly pushed its lead 20 points in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter and maintained a lead of at least 20 points for all but 15 seconds in the final period on the way to the win.
 
Katie Fitzpatrick scored 25 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Mansfield.
 
Slippery Rock continues its PSAC schedule when it hosts Lock Haven 1 p.m. Sunday at Morrow Field House. A win would give The Rock their first 4-1 start to a season since 2004-05.