SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – A dry spell in the second and third quarters spelled doom for the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team in a 67-53 loss to No. 13 Indiana (Pa.) Wednesday night at Morrow Field House.
 
The loss drops The Rock's record to 10-11 overall and 8-8 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition. The nationally ranked Crimson Hawks improve to 18-2 overall and 13-2 in league games.
 
Slippery Rock remains a half-game ahead of Mercyhurst for sixth place in the PSAC West standings with six games left in the regular season. The top six teams in the PSAC West standings at the end of the year qualify for the conference tournament.
 
SRU came out on fire Wednesday night, jumping out to a 16-7 lead over the first eight minutes of the opening quarter. The trio of Morgan Henderson, Sierra Fordham and Brooke Hinderliter spurred the run. Henderson scored seven points with Fordham and Hinderliter chipping in five and four points, respectively.
 
In what turned out to be precursor of things to come, Indiana grabbed the momentum by scoring five unanswered points to cut The Rock's lead down to just 16-12 heading into the second quarter.
 
Slippery Rock was unable to replicate its first-quarter performance over the next 20 minutes of game time as SRU shot just 6-for-24 from the field and committed nine of its 15 turnovers on the night over the second and third quarters. Conversely, Indiana knocked down 15-of-34 field goal attempts throughout the middle portion of the game to push past SRU and take a 51-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
IUP went on to stretch its lead out to as many as 22 points midway through the fourth quarter before SRU answered back with an impressive 13-2 run to make it a 62-51 game and force an Indiana timeout with 2:17 to play in regulation. Krista Pietropola was responsible for eight of The Rock's points during the spurt.
 
However, Slippery Rock's comeback bid would be halted by Indiana, which made five free throws in the game's final minutes to close out the victory.
 
Hinderliter led three Rock players in double figures with 13 points. She also collected nine rebounds, passed out three assists and made one steal over 32 minutes of playing time.
 
Henderson and Fordham scored 12 points apiece for SRU with Henderson, who went 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range, also grabbing five rebounds and blocking one shot. Fordham has now scored at least 11 points in five of SRU's last six games.
 
Pietropola also just missed out on a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. LeeAnn Gibson scored six points and Skyla O'Connor made a pair of steals to round out The Rock's top performers.
 
 As a team, Slippery Rock shot 33.3 percent (17-for-51) from the field overall, 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from 3-point range and 87.5 percent (14-for-16) at the foul line. SRU concluded the game with 34 rebounds and 15 turnovers committed.
 
Audrey Stapleton came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points. Carolyn Appleby added 11 points, five assists and three steals. The Crimson Hawks finished the game shooting 41.4 percent (24-for-58) from the field overall while also going 25 percent (5-for-20) from deep and 70 percent (14-for-20) at the foul line. IUP made just nine turnovers while also coming up with 11 steals.
 
Slippery Rock will look to snap its four-game losing streak with a win against Seton Hill University 1 p.m. Saturday at Morrow Field House.
 
 
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