INDIANA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team lost on the road to No. 3 Indiana (Pa.), 76-50, Monday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division contest at the Kovalchick Complex in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
Slippery Rock drops to 7-7 on the season overall and 5-4 in league games with the loss. The Crimson Hawks, which were ranked third in the nation in the most recent Women's Basketball Coaches Association top-25 poll, stay perfect on the year with the win at 13-0 overall and 8-0 in conference competition.
Skyla O'Connor came off the bench to score a career-high eight points while also matching her previous personal-best of five rebounds in addition to making two steals and blocking one shot in just 16 minutes of playing time. O'Connor went 3-for-7 from the field overall, 1-for-1 from deep and 1-for-2 at the foul line.
Brooke Hinderliter led all Rock scorers with nine points to go with three rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Morgan Henderson and
Mallory Heinle each chipped in seven points apiece with
Madison Johnson and
Sierra Fordham rounding out The Rock's leading scorers at six and five points, respectively.
Six different Rock players pulled in at least five rebounds. Henderson led the way with eight rebounds followed by Heinle (seven),
LeeAnn Gibson (six),
Krista Pietropola (five), Johnson (five) and O'Connor (five). Heinle also blocked one shot and came away with one steal.
Slippery Rock had an off shooting night as The Rock finished the contest making just 31.5 percent (17-for-54) of its field goal attempts and 56 percent (14-for-25) of its free throws. SRU did hold advantages over Indiana in total rebounds (45-41), offensive rebounds (22-20) and bench scoring (22-17).
Indiana connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to begin the game, but the rest of the first quarter belonged to The Rock as SRU outscored IUP 10-6 over the final 8:40 of the opening quarter to send the game into the second quarter tied at 16-16.
After IUP's early 3-point barrage Slippery Rock limited Indiana to a field goal percentage of just 31.2 percent (5-for-16) over the remainder of the first period while O'Connor spearheaded the offense with five points off the bench. Six different Rock players scored points in the first quarter.
However, IUP ended any thoughts of a Rock upset with a dominating second quarter in which the Crimson Hawks held The Rock without a point for the final 6:21 of the first half on the way to outscoring SRU 24-5 and taking a commanding 40-21 lead into the halftime break. IUP's Meghan Smith scored 17 points in the opening 20 minutes thanks in part to five made 3-pointers. Indiana made 9-of-16 field goals in the second quarter, including a 4-for-7 showing from 3-point range.
The Rock and Crimson Hawks went on to trade baskets in the second half en route to IUP's 26-point victory.
Smith finished the game with 22 points. As a team, IUP shot 42 percent (29-for-69) from the field overall and 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from the foul line. The Crimson Hawks committed just seven turnovers while forcing The Rock into 19 miscues, which IUP was able to translate into 20 points.
Slippery Rock will look to snap its two-game losing streak with a victory 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Clarion University.
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