BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team erased a 20-point third quarter deficit and tied the game with 1:37 remaining in regulation, but couldn't quite complete the comeback in a 57-52 loss at Bloomsburg University Sunday.
The loss drops The Rock's record to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition. Bloomsburg improves to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in league games.
The Huskies played their way to what was thought to be a safe 40-20 lead with five minutes remaining in the third quarter after everything that could go wrong for The Rock seemingly did for the first 25 minutes of play. SRU shot just 18.9 percent (7-for-37) from the field and committed 12 turnovers over the first two and a half quarters.
Undeterred by its poor start, Slippery Rock slowly started to claw its way back into the game by trimming four points off of Bloomsburg's lead to make it a 50-34 game heading into the fourth quarter. Slippery Rock then controlled the fourth period as it stormed back into the game with an 18-2 run to tie the contest at 52-52 with 1:37 left to play.
Ciara Patterson was dynamic over the run. She scored 11 points off of a trio of 3-pointers and a game-tying layup.
Madison Johnson scored three points during the spurt as well while
Mallory Heinle and
Morgan Henderson each added two points with Henderson also passing out two assists and Heinle grabbing three rebounds.
However, The Rock's comeback bid ultimately came up short as Bloomsburg responded to The Rock's run by scoring five unanswered points of its in the game's final moments to escape with the narrow home victory.
Patterson ended the game with 13 points and three assists. Henderson finished the day with 10 points to reach double figures for a second consecutive contest in addition to compiling seven rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block. On a day when The Rock struggled to shoot as a whole, Henderson was 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-3 at the foul line.
Brooke Hinderliter added nine points and eight rebounds, six of which were offensive boards. Heinle came off the bench to score five points, grab six rebounds and make a career-high matching four steals. Fellow reserve
Sierra Fordham scored seven of SRU's first 10 points Sunday.
Eight of the nine Rock players to see the court against Bloomsburg were called for at least two fouls. In all, SRU was whistled for 24 fouls that resulted in 23 Huskie free throw attempts while Bloomsburg committed just 13 fouls.
For the game, Slippery Rock shot 25.4 percent (17-for-67) from the field, 21.7 percent (5-for-23) from 3-point range and 81.3 percent (13-for-16) from the free throw line. Bloomsburg shot 45.2 percent (19-for-42) from the field, 45.5 percent (5-for-11) from deep and 60.9 percent (14-for-23) at the foul line.
Slippery Rock held advantages over Bloomsburg in rebounds (41-38), blocks (4-3), steals (9-5), points off turnovers (19-13) and second chance points (18-6). Slippery Rock forced Bloomsburg into 18 turnovers, seven of which came in the fourth quarter. A season-best 20 of SRU's rebounds came on the offensive glass.
Meghan Corridni tallied 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for Bloomsburg. Alyssa Mack made three 3-pointers, including a decisive triple with 39 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter on the way to an 11-point outing.
Slippery Rock will look to return to its winning ways with a victory 1 p.m. Dec. 9 at Millersville University.
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