Traditional Box ScoreSLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team picked up an impressive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division victory with a 70-63 win against Mercyhurst University Wednesday night at Morrow Field House.
The win, Slippery Rock's second in as many games, improves The Rock's record to 9-12 overall and 5-12 in league play. The Lakers fall to 8-15 overall and 5-12 in conference competition with the loss.
With five games to play in the regular season, Slippery Rock is seventh in the PSAC-West standings, just one game behind sixth place Seton Hill (9-13, 6-11). The top six teams in both the PSAC-West and PSAC-East at the conclusion of the year advance to the postseason conference tournament. SRU has not qualified for the PSAC Tournament since 2005-06.
As was the case in its win at Pitt-Johnstown on Jan. 31, SRU started out slow in the first half before coming alive in the second half. Slippery Rock outscored Mercyhurst 42-26 in the final 20 minutes while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and limiting the opposition to just a 17.2 shooting percentage.
Slippery Rock was led by its junior backcourt duo of
Erica Aiello and
Taylor Siggers. Aiello finished one point shy of a career-high with 20 points and five assists while Siggers delivered 19 points and four rebounds. The pair combined to shot 14-for-25 from the field.
Aiello kept The Rock in the game in the first half with 15 points on a variety of drives and three-pointers. Siggers shouldered the scoring load in the second half by consistently driving the lane resulting in 12 points in the final period.
Senior forward
D'Asia Chambers added eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Junior guard
Megan Hardiman and sophomore guard
Audrey Stapleton chipped in nine and eight points, respectively. Freshman forward
Mallory Heinle rounded out The Rock's standouts with a season-high six rebounds.
Trailing 37-28 coming out of the halftime break, Slippery Rock wasted no time getting back into the game with a 13-4 run that evened the contest at 41-41 with 14:52 to play. The teams then traded baskets until The Rock's defense stifled the Mercyhurst offense for a five minute stretch midway through the period which allowed The Rock to pull ahead 53-47 with 8:10 remaining in regulation.
Slippery Rock proceeded to extend its lead to as many as 11 points and was never threatened down the stretch en route to the seven-point victory.
For the game, Slippery Rock shot 43.9 percent (25-for-57) from the field and an impressive 81.8 percent (18-for-22) from the foul line. SRU held advantages over Mercyhurst in rebounds (42-35) and points in the paint (42-18).
Natalie Piaggessi had 17 points and six rebounds for Mercyhurst in the loss.
Slippery Rock will go for its third straight win when it travels to Edinboro University on Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m.
