WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team extended its winning streak to three games with a 78-67 non-conference win against West Liberty Friday afternoon at the Academic, Sports and Recreation Complex in West Liberty, West Virginia.
 
The victory improves The Rock's record to 6-5 on the year. West Liberty falls to 2-8 with the loss. Friday's game was the final non-conference contest of the year for Slippery Rock.
 
Lexi Carpenter led the way for Slippery Rock by matching her season-high with 22 points to go with seven assists, five rebounds and two steals. Carpenter, who went 6-for-13 from the field overall and 9-for-10 from the foul line, controlled the second half with 15 points over the final 20 minutes.
 
Krista Pietropola continued her hot streak with 15 points, five rebounds and one block over 25 minutes. Pietropola made four of her seven 3-poin attempts against the Hilltoppers and is now shooting 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from long range over The Rock's last four games. Her season 3-point field goal shooting percentage of 43.4 is the third highest in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
 
Brooke Hinderliter chipped in 14 points while C.C. Dixon just missed out on a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. Dixon did the majority of her work in the fourth quarter where she accounted for eight points and four rebounds.
 
Mallory Heinle recorded a career-high 14 rebounds to round out The Rock's top performers. The 14 rebounds were the most by a Rock player since D'Asia Chambers grabbed 15 rebounds against Pitt-Johnstown on Jan. 31, 2015 (46 games).
 
Slippery Rock jumped out to a 21-8 at the conclusion of the first quarter. Offensively, Hinderliter and Morgan Henderson combined to score 13 of The Rock's 21 points, which were the most scored by SRU in the first quarter of a game this season. Defensively, Slippery Rock forced four West Liberty turnovers and limited the Hilltoppers to just two made 3-pointers in 13 attempts.
 
The Rock and Hilltoppers traded baskets for the majority of the second quarter before Pietropola sent SRU into halftime with a 40-23 lead thanks to a 3-pointer with just 15 seconds left in the quarter.
 
After making just 23.8 percent (5-of-21) of its 3-point attempts in the first half, West Liberty found its stroke from deep in the second half and slowly began to cut into The Rock's lead by making six of its next 14 3-pointers to trim its deficit to nine points at 57-48 with 8:58 remaining in regulation.
 
However, the nine-point margin would be as close as West Liberty would get as Slippery Rock proceeded to go on a 15-6 run over the next six minutes to push its lead back out to 18 points, 72-54, with 3:36 left to play. The Hilltoppers made one last push and eventually cut the lead back down to nine points with 55 seconds showing on the clock, but The Rock sealed the game with four successful free throws in the late stages of the game to earn the 11-point win.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field, 40 percent (6-of-15) from 3-point range and 76.9 percent (20-of-26) at the free throw line. Slippery Rock held a commanding 47-33 advantage over West Liberty in rebounds. The +14 rebound margin was the second highest for a Rock team this season.
 
West Liberty was paced by Brandi Beader, who came off the bench to score 23 points and grab eight rebounds for the Hilltoppers. West Liberty shot 35.8 percent (24-of-67) from the field and 34.8 percent (16-of-46) from 3-point territory.
 
Slippery Rock returns to competition with an exhibition game 1 p.m. Saturday at North Carolina A&T University.