SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team lost its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opener to Shippensburg University, 94-58, Saturday afternoon on the road at Heiges Field House.
 
The loss, Slippery Rock's first of the season, drops The Rock's record to 2-1 on the year overall and 0-1 in league games. Shippensburg improves to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in conference competition with the win.
 
Slippery Rock trailed Shippensburg by a manageable 10 points, 47-37, at halftime before the Raiders put the game out of a reach with dominating third quarter in which they outscored The Rock 29-9 to increase their lead to 30 points on the way to the eventual 94-58 win.
 
SRU finished the day shooting 32.8 percent from the field (22-of-67), 30.0 percent from 3-point range (6-of-20) and 66.7 percent at the free throw line (8-of-12). Slippery Rock held a 36-32 edge in total rebounds while turning the ball over a season-low 11 times. SRU also had 19 offensive rebounds Saturday, which is tied for the second most in a single-game by a Rock team in the last four seasons. For the game, Slippery Rock held a 22-7 advantage over Shippensburg in second chance points.
 
Lexi Carpenter and Sierra Fordham each scored 11 points to pace The Rock. Carpenter passed out three assists and Fordham had one steal to go with her career-high point total.
 
Morgan Henderson chipped in eight points and five rebounds. Fellow starters C.C. Dixon and Mallory Heinle added seven points and six points, respectively, with Dixon also grabbing five rebounds.
 
Krista Pietropola joined Fordham off the bench to give Slippery Rock five points, four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
 
Shippensburg was nearly automatic shooting as the Raiders connected on 66.1 percent (37-of-56) of its field goal attempts, 52.9 percent (9-for-17) of its 3-point attempts and 84.6 percent (11-of-13) of its shots from the free throw line. Six different Shippensburg players scored in double figures with Stephanie Knauer leading the way on a game-high 23 points.
 
Slippery Rock will look to rebound from Saturday's loss with a win at Kutztown University on Sunday. Tipoff from Keystone Arena is scheduled for 1 p.m.