Complete Game Notes  |  Slippery Rock Stats  |  West Chester Stats  | Cheyney Stats
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Following three non-conference games, the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team will return to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play this weekend with a pair of crossover contests 5:30 p.m. Friday against West Chester University and 2 p.m. Saturday Cheyney University.
 
GAME 9 DETAILS
Opponents: West Chester University
Date: Dec. 4 | 5:30 p.m.
Location: Hollinger Field House | West Chester, Pennsylvania
Live Stats: Link
Video: Link ($5 Fee)
Audio: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: West Chester leads 10-6
Last Played: Dec. 18, 2013 (West Chester won 84-71 at SRU)
 
GAME 10 DETAILS
Opponents: Cheyney University
Date: Dec. 5 | 2 p.m.
Location: Cope Hall | Cheyney, Pennsylvania
All-Time Series: Slippery Rock leads 13-10
Last Played: Dec. 21, 2013 (SRU won 77-66 at Cheyney)
 
THE OPENING TIP
• Slippery Rock enters the weekend at 5-3 overall and 2-1 in league play which puts SRU in a tie with Seton Hill for fourth place in the PSAC-West.
 
• Slippery Rock has not played West Chester or Cheyney since the 2013-14 season. Only three players (Erica Aiello, Megan Hardiman and Rebecca Olkosky) remain from that year's team.
 
• A pair of victories would mark the first time SRU won at least seven of its first 10 games since the 1999-00 season.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team led by as many as 27 points en route to a 69-50 victory at Ohio Valley University Tuesday night. Junior guard Audrey Stapleton led the way with a team-high 15 points. Stapleton went 6-for-9 from the field overall and 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
 
FREE THROW MARKSMANSHIP
Slippery Rock enters the weekend shooting 80.1 percent (117-146) from the free throw line. SRU's free throw percentage leads the PSAC and ranks seventh in the nation.
 
No Rock player with at least 10 free throw attempts on the year is shooting below 66 percent. Hardiman leads SRU with a 91.7 percent (11-for-12) mark from the foul line followed by junior guard Lexi Carpenter (91.5 percent / 43-for-47), Aiello (87.1 / 27-for-31), Stapleton (81.8 / 9-for-11), freshman forward Morgan Henderson (75.0 / 9-for-12) and sophomore guard Ciara Patterson (66.7 / 12-for-18).
 
The SRU program record for free throw percentage in a season is 77.4 percent (429-553), which was set in 1997-98.
 
GREAT FROM 3-POINT RANGE TOO
SRU has also excelled from 3-point territory through the first quarter of the 2015-16 season. SRU is currently shooting 38.7 percent (55-for-142), which ranks second in the PSAC and is 29th out of 300 NCAA Division II teams.
 
Slippery Rock's 55 3-pointers made are the third most in the PSAC as is its 6.9 made 3-pointers per game. With 20 games remaining in the season, SRU is on pace to make 193 3-pointers, which would easily shatter the previous school record of 3-pointers made in a season of 170 in 2001-02.
 
Patterson has made a team-best 13 3-pointers with Hardiman (10) and Stapleton (10) also in double-digits as well. Aiello (six), sophomore forward Mallory Heinle (five) and sophomore guard Krista Pietropola (five) round out The Rock's top 3-point threats.
 
EARLY RETURNS
The Rock's NCAA Division I transfer trio of Carpenter, Patterson and PIetropola have acclimated themselves nicely to Slippery Rock's style of basketball.
 
Carpenter ranks fourth in the PSAC in scoring at 17.8 points per game (ppg) and her 4.6 assists per game (apg) are the seventh most of any PSAC athlete. Additionally, Carpenter, who has scored 20 or more points in a game three times, is also averaging 4.3 rebounds per game (rpg) and 1.8 steals per game (spg).
 
Patterson is SRU's third leading scorer (10.9 ppg) and leader in steals with 17. She ranks sixth in the league in spg at 2.1.
 
Pietropola has come off the bench in all eight games to give The Rock 3.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg and four blocks. She ranks second on the team in blocks and third in rebounding.
 
WELCOME TO THE LINEUP
Henderson has started The Rock's last two games. She has played a season-high 23 minutes in each of the two games. She had 13 rebounds, one block and one steal against Central State before recording five rebounds and four points recently against Ohio Valley. The 13 rebounds were the most by a Rock player in the last 15 games. Henderson is averaging 3.9 ppg and 4.5 rpg on the season and has made seven of her last 15 field goal attempts. (46.7 percent).
 
CAREER-YEARS IN THE MAKING
Hardiman, Stapleton and senior forward Sorriyah Ranger are all off to impressive starts to their 2015-16 seasons.
 
Hardiman is Slippery Rock's leading rebounder at 6.1 rpg while her 7.1 ppg are the fifth most on the team. She is shooting 56.3 percent (18-for-32) from the field overall and 62.5 percent (10-for-16) from 3-point range.
 
Stapleton has provided Slippery Rock with an offensive spark off the bench. In eight games this year, she is scoring 11.1 ppg, the second most of any Rock player. She is once again one of the most accurate shooters in the Atlantic Region as evidenced by her 51.5 field goal percentage (35-for-68), 50.0 3-point percentage (10-for-20) and 81.1 free throw percentage (9-for-11).
 
Ranger has nine blocks this year and is halfway to her total from a year ago. She has also already matched her entire scoring total from 2014-15.
 
ROCK STAPLE
One constant for Slippery Rock over the last four years has been Aiello, who has started 67 of her 86 games played over her Rock career. She already ranks 10th in Rock history for assists in a career (300), 11th in minutes played (2,311) and 12th in 3-pointers made (81).
 
This season, Aiello is averaging 10.1 ppg to go with 2.8 apg, 2.5 rpg, 1.3 spg and 25.1 minutes per game in eight starts.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
West Chester has won seven straight games against The Rock and leads SRU 10-6 in the all-time series. Slippery Rock is 13-10 vs. Cheyney all-time and has won four consecutive games against the Wolves.
 
SCOUTING WEST CHESTER
West Chester enters the SRU game with a 4-3 record overall and a 2-2 mark in PSAC games. The Rams rank fourth in the league in scoring at 72.7 ppg, but also allow the 15th most points in the 18-team PSAC at 68.0 ppg.
 
Brittany Sicinski leads West Chester with 15.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 5.1 apg while shooting 50 percent from the field. WCU has two other players that average at least 10 points a contest in Dallas Ely (14.7) and Anna Kuntz (10.1).
 
Kiera Wooden is in her second season as West Chester's coach. She is 28-9 in her first 37 games in charge of the WCU program.
 
SCOUTING CHEYNEY
Cheyney heads into the game with an 0-5 record overall and an 0-3 mark in league play. The Wolves score 55.8 ppg while allowing its opponents to score 74.2 ppg. Cheyney averages 21.6 turnovers per game.
 
Aerie DeJesus leads Cheyney in scoring, averaging 12.6 ppg, Kyra Hines-Allen leads the Wolves in rebounding, pulling in 4.6 boards per game and is second on the squad in scoring with an 11.2 average.
 
Cheyney is coached by Kyle Adams, who is 8-49 in three seasons in charge of the program.
 
UP NEXT
Following a week off for fall semester final exams, Slippery Rock will play at Duquesne University Dec. 15 before returning to Morrow Field House, and PSAC-West competition, to host Mercyhurst University 5 p.m. Dec. 16.