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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team dropped its regular-season finale to No. 20 California (Pa.), 74-48, on Wednesday, but in the process clinched a spot in the upcoming Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time since 2005-06.
 
Slippery Rock closes the regular season at 11-15 overall and 7-15 in PSAC-West play. The 11 wins are the most by a Rock team since SRU won 13 games in 2005-06. Slippery Rock had won just 15 games combined in the previous four seasons.
 
The Rock enters the PSAC Tournament for the first time in the last 10 years as the sixth seed out of the PSAC-West. SRU will travel to third-seeded Gannon in first round action on Saturday at 2 p.m..
 
SRU was led in its loss against California (23-4, 19-3) by junior guard Taylor Siggers, who scored a season-high 22 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field. Siggers also grabbed six rebounds in the defeat.
 
Senior forward D'Asia Chambers was plagued by foul trouble for much of the game, but still finished just one rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
Junior forward Megan Hardiman added seven rebounds while junior guard Erica Aiello chipped in six points and four assists. Freshman guard Shannon Jack came off the bench to score six points and match a personal-best with four rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock went toe-to-toe with the nationally ranked Vulcans for the entire first half as neither team led by more than six points for the duration of the period with California coming away with a narrow three-point advantage at 30-27 heading into halftime.
 
However, the Vulcans started the second half on a 24-4 run to open up a 54-31 lead with 11:21 to play in regulation. Never a team to quit, Slippery Rock steadily chipped into the California lead, eventually climbing to within 10 points (56-46) of the Vulcans with 5:34 to play. The Rock's 15-2 run was sparked by eight points from Siggers and four points by Chambers.
 
The 10-point deficit would be as close as Slippery Rock would get as California closed out the game by scoring 18 of the contest's final 20 points for the 74-48 win.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock shot 40.4 percent from the field while holding California to a 36.1 percent shooting effort.
 
Inna Kukolj led California with 24 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.