CHEYNEY, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team increased its current winning streak to three games with a 71-66 victory at Cheyney University Saturday afternoon.
 
The victory improves SRU's record to 7-3 overall on the season and 4-1 in league play. Saturday's win gives Slippery Rock its best 10-game start to a season since The Rock went 9-1 to begin the 1999-00 season.
 
Slippery Rock was led by the trio sophomore forward Mallory Heinle, sophomore guard Ciara Patterson and junior guard Audrey Stapleton. Heinle and Patterson each scored 16 points with Stapleton close behind at 14 points while also passing out a team-high four assists. Heinle, whose point total was a career-high, just missed out on a double-double with a personal-best nine rebounds.
 
Sophomore guard Krista Pietropola added eight points and six rebounds while senior guard Erica Aiello produced seven points. Senior forward Sorriyah Ranger had two blocks to round out The Rock's top performers.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock shot 42.3 percent (22-for-52) from the field overall and 54.5 percent (6-for-11) from 3-point range. SRU also converted 70 percent (21-of-30) of its free throws. Slippery Rock held Cheyney (0-7, 0-5 PSAC)  to a 34.9 field goal percentage.
 
Slippery Rock led by as many as 14 points late in the second quarter, but a 25-12 run by Cheyney throughout the third quarter put the Wolves ahead 55-53 entering the fourth quarter. SRU erased its deficit and built a five-point lead at 62-57 with 6:11 remaining in regulation after a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter. However, Cheyney answered back with a 7-0 run of its own over the following four minutes to retake the lead, 64-62, with 2:37 showing on the clock.
 
Heinle started The Rock's comeback bid by knocking down a pair of free throws to tie the contest followed by a Pietropola 3-pointer that gave SRU the lead with 28 seconds left to play. SRU closed out the win thanks to four free throws by Stapleton in game's final 10 seconds. Cheyney made a layup with four seconds left, but it would not be enough as Slippery Rock completed the comeback to earn the five-point win.
 
The Rock also held advantages over the Wolves in points off turnovers (16-12), points in the paint (24-22) and bench scoring (32-9).
 
TaKayla Ellis scored 20 points to lead Cheyney.
 
Slippery Rock will break for fall semester final exams before returning to competition Dec. 15 at Duquesne University.