ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker against Gannon University, 64-63, Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition at the Hammermill Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock (9-11, 6-8 PSAC West), trailed Gannon by seven points early in the fourth quarter before going on an 8-0 run that was capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers from Krista Pietropola to give SRU a 52-51 lead with 5:55 remaining in regulation.
 
The Golden Knights (5-15, 5-9 PSAC West) would fight back to take a 59-55 lead over the following three minutes before Slippery Rock once again rattled off eight unanswered points thanks to a successful jumper by Pietropola and consecutive 3-pointers from Lexi Carpenter and Mallory Heinle to retake the lead 63-59 with just 40 seconds to play.
 
Gannon's Maggie Mitchell drew a foul on the ensuing possession and made one out of her two free throw attempts to cut The Rock's lead down to 63-60 with 28 seconds showing on the clock. Following Mitchell's second free throw Slippery Rock was issued a technical foul after a Rock player attempted to call a timeout when SRU had none remaining, which gave Gannon two foul shots and possession of the basketball.
 
Mitchell made both free throws off of the technical foul to trim Slippery Rock's advantage down to 63-62 with 21 seconds to play and Gannon in possession of the ball. Mitchell drove the lane on Gannon's final possession, forcing SRU to foul her to avoid allowing an uncontested layup. Mitchell connected on both free throws and a desperation attempt from just inside halfcourt from Carpenter would come up short as Gannon escaped with the one-point victory.  
 
Slippery Rock's last three losses have come by a total of just seven points.  
 
Carpenter scored a team-high 14 points, passed out five assists and blocked two shots for The Rock in 37 minutes. Pietropola scored 13 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter, in what was her highest scoring output in the last eight games. Heinle rounded out The Rock's top scorers with 11 points in addition to totaling five rebounds and three steals.
 
C.C. Dixon nearly recorded a double-double with eight points and seven rebounds as well as making three steals. Morgan Henderson pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds while also scoring six points. Six of Henderson's rebounds came on the offensive glass.
 
Cassidy Wright came off the bench to make two 3-pointers on the way to a six-point night while Brooke Hinderliter tallied five points, seven rebounds and a season-high four assists.
 
Slippery Rock overcame a near season-low 31.6 field goal percentage (24-of-76) by making a season-high nine 3-pointers, forcing Gannon into 21 turnovers, which SRU scored 24 points off of while committing just 10 miscues of its own, and holding a 43-38 edge in rebounds. SRU's 21 offensive rebounds were the most by a Rock team since the 2012-13 season when SRU secured 24 offensive rebounds against Lock haven.
 
Gannon held shooting percentages of 46.9 percent (23-of-49) from the field overall, 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from 3-point range and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the foul line. Mitchell finished the game with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds for Gannon.
 
Slippery Rock jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead thanks to a long jumper by Carpenter and a 3-pointer from Heinle. However, SRU was just 3-for-14 from the field over the remainder of the first quarter as Gannon closed the opening period on an 18-9 run to take an 18-14 advantage into the second quarter.
 
Gannon extended its lead out to as many as eight points at 26-18 midway through the second quarter before Slippery Rock answered back with an 11-0 spurt that was sparked by five points from Hinderliter and a pair of 3-pointers by the duo of Carpenter and Pietropola over the following four minutes. The Golden Knights managed to end The Rock's run with five points in the final minute of the opening half to take a 31-29 lead into the break.
 
Slippery Rock kept pace with Gannon throughout the entirety of the third quarter, cutting the Golden Knights lead down to just one point on three separate occasions, but SRU was never quite able to take a lead in the period as GU closed the quarter with a 3-pointer by Julia Braungart to take a 49-44 lead on The Rock going into the final 10 minutes.
 
After a quick Gannon basket to begin the fourth quarter, Slippery Rock registered the first of its two 8-0 runs in the fourth quarter to pull ahead 52-51 and setup dramatic finish.
 
Slippery Rock will look to bounce back from Wednesday's loss with a victory at home Saturday against Seton Hill University. Tipoff from Morrow Field House is scheduled for 1 p.m.