ERIE, Pa. – Lexi Carpenter scored a career-high 28 points, but it wasn't quite enough as the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team had its two-game winning streak snapped in a 83-78 loss at Mercyhurst University Wednesday night.
The loss drops Slippery Rock's record to 10-10 overall and 7-8 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition. Mercyhurst improves to 10-11 and 8-7 in league play with the win.
Carpenter, who was coming off of a 24-point, six-rebound contest in The Rock's overtime win at Gannon on Jan. 23, produced her new personal-best scoring mark on an efficient shooting performance of 9-for-17 from the field overall, 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 7-for-9 from the free throw line. In addition to her point total, Carpenter also netted three rebounds, three assists and one block.
Audrey Stapleton and
Ciara Patterson both finished in double figures as well with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Stapleton shot 55.6 percent from the field to go with four rebounds and two steals while Patterson collected four rebounds, four assists and three steals of her own.
Mallory Heinle scored seven points,
Megan Hardiman recorded six rebounds and
Erica Aiello passed out four assists to round out SRU's top performers.
Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst played to a 5-5 tie over the opening three minutes of the game before the Lakers went on a 16-6 run over the remainder of the first quarter and the opening the minute of the second period to take a commanding 11-point lead over The Rock early on.
Slippery Rock stormed back by scoring 14 of the game's next 16 points over the following four minutes to take a 24-23 lead with 5:44 remaining in the period. The run was sparked by a Rock defensive effort that forced Mercyhurst into four turnovers and a 25 percent shooting mark from the field. Five SRU players scored points during the spurt.
The Rock and the Lakers traded baskets for the remainder of the half with Mercyhurst pulling ahead by four points, 39-35, heading into halftime. Stapleton and Carpenter paced The Rock in the first half with nine and seven points. Mercyhurst finished the half shooting 53.3 percent (15-for-28) from the field).
Carpenter accounted for 14 of The Rock's 23 points in the third quarter as Slippery Rock carried over its momentum from the second period to once again outscore the Lakers in a quarter, 23-19, to even the score at 58-58 heading into the fourth quarter.
However, the turning point of the game came early in the fourth quarter when Mercyhurst outscored SRU 11-2 in the first four minutes of the period to take a comfortable 69-60 lead with 5:39 remaining in regulation. Slippery Rock whittled the Lakers' advantage down to one possession on four separate occasions, but was unable to complete the comeback as Mercyhurst, which was 8-for-8 from the foul line in the game's final 29 seconds, managed to answer every Rock basket down the stretch to secure the victory.
Carpenter scored 21 points in the second half Wednesday night.
For the game, Slippery Rock shot 43.2 percent (26-for-60) from the field overall as well as 56.3 percent (9-for-16) from 3-point range and 85 percent (17-for-20) from the foul line. However, the Lakers hit 47.4 percent (27-for-57) of its field goals and 21-of-23 free throws while holding a 39-29 edge in rebounding over The Rock and scoring 12 second-chance points.
Mercyhurst was led by Natalie Piaggesi and Angela Heintz. Piaggesi scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Heintz was close behind with 25 points and seven rebounds.
Slippery Rock steps out of PSAC play to host Point Park University 1 p.m. Saturday on Military Appreciation Day at Morrow Field House. All veterans will be admitted free of charge to the game.
