SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team dropped a 78-71 decision in overtime to East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover play Wednesday night at Morrow Field House.
 
The loss drops Slippery Rock's record to 7-7 on the year overall and 4-5 in PSAC play. East Stroudsburg improved to 6-7 overall and 4-5 in league games with the win. The overtime contest was Slippery Rock's first of the season.
 
Wednesday's game featured 12 lead changes and six ties. The largest lead by either team was just eight points by East Stroudsburg with  seconds remaining in overtime.
 
East Stroudsburg opened up an early seven-point lead through the opening seven minutes of the first quarter before Slippery Rock answered back with a 10-2 run to take a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. The rest of regulation was a tight back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than five points over the next three quarters of play.
 
Slippery Rock trailed by one point with 1:58 remaining in regulation, but junior guard Lexi Carpenter drew a foul and proceed to hit a pair of free throws to give SRU a 52-51 lead with 1:30 showing on the clock. Sophomore guard Ciara Patterson forced an ESU turnover on the ensuing possession that led to a fast-break layup by senior guard Erica Aiello.
 
However, The Rock's three-point lead was short-lived as Imani Brown connected on a 3-point attempt following SRU's fast break to tie the game at 54-54 with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
 
Patterson made two quick free throws to start overtime, but the Warriors rallied back to go on a 12-6 run over the next three minutes to pull ahead 66-61 with two minutes to play. Slippery Rock could only trim the ESU lead down to three points as the Warriors went on to make 9-of-10 foul shots down the stretch to pull away for the seven-point victory.
 
Aiello and Carpenter paced The Rock with 18 points apiece. Aiello went 7-for-12 from the field overall and 4-for-5 from 3-point range while also passing out two assists to move into seventh place in SRU history in career assists with 318.
 
Carpenter was just 4-for-16 from the field, but went 10-for-12 from the free throw line to overcome the rough shooting night from the field. Carpenter also posted team-highs of eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.
 
Sophomore forward Mallory Heinle was SRU's third player to reach double figures with 13 points off of a 4-for-8 shooting night from the field, including one 3-pointer, and a 4-for-4 effort from the foul line. She also grabbed five rebounds. Heinle has now scored 10 or more points in four of The Rock's last five games.
 
Junior guard Audrey Stapleton rounded out Slippery Rock's top performers with nine points and a career-high seven rebounds.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock held advantages over East Stroudsburg in field goal percentage (37.1-36.6), rebounds (44-43) and fast break points (6-4). SRU scored 14 points off of 11 East Stroudsburg turnovers.
 
Brown scored 18 points while Allison Howard added 15 points and seven rebounds to lead the Warriors. ESU forced The Rock into 16 turnovers, which it then turned into 15 points.
 
Slippery Rock begins a two-game road trip 1 p.m. Saturday at Indiana (Pa.).