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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team will begin its 2018-19 season with a pair of games this weekend at the PSAC-CIAA Challenge in Erie, Pennsylvania Saturday against Johnson C. Smith University and Sunday against Elizabeth City State College.
 
GAME 1 DETAILS
• Opponent: Johnson C. Smith University
• Date: Saturday, Nov. 10 – 1 p.m.
• Location: Erie, Pa. – Hammermill Center
• Video: LINK
• Live Stats: LINK
• All-Time Series: SRU leads 1-0
• Last Played: Nov. 11, 2016 (SRU won 80-79 in at JCS)
 
SERIES HISTORY
Behind a successful free throw by Morgan Henderson with just 45 seconds left in regulation, SRU defeated Johnson C. Smith, 80-79, to open the 2016-17 season in what is the only meeting between the two schools to date.
 
GAME 2 DETAILS
• Opponent: Elizabeth City State College
• Date: Sunday, Nov. 11 – 1 p.m.
• Location: Erie, Pa. – Hammermill Center
• Video: LINK
• Live Stats: LINK
• All-Time Series: First meeting
• Last Played: N/A
 
SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's game will mark the first meeting between The Rock and Vikings all-time.
  
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• 2017-18 Overall Record: 12-16
• 2017-18 PSAC West Record: 10-12
• 2017-18 PSAC West Finish: Sixth place
• 2017-18 Postseason: PSAC Tournament (First Round)
• 2018-19 PSAC West Preseason Poll: Fourth place
• Head Coach: Bobby McGraw | Fifth season (45-66)
 
QUICK HITS
• Slippery Rock was picked to finish in fourth place in the PSAC West this year in the annual preseason coaches poll that was released by the league on Oct. 25. The fourth place prediction was the highest for Slippery Rock in over a decade.
 
• Slippery Rock returns seven players overall, including five starters, from last year's team that went 12-16 overall, 10-12 in league games and qualified for the PSAC Tournament for the second time under fifth-year head coach Bobby McGraw.
 
• In all, SRU's 2018-19 roster features two returners, 10 transfers and four freshmen.
 
• Slippery Rock is 5-3 in its opening weekend games in the previous four years under McGraw's tutelage.
 
• Wins over Johnson C. Smith and Elizabeth City State would give Slippery Rock its third 2-0 start to a season in the last four years.
 
REMARKABLE IMPROVEMENT
Slippery Rock won just 19 games in the four seasons prior to McGraw's arrival, but since taking over at SRU McGraw has led Slippery Rock to 45 victories. The +26-win difference between four-year stretches (2010-14 / 2014-18) is the 18th highest in Division II among the 127 schools that had losing records overall from 2010-14.    
 
MAKING HISTORY
The Rock's 10 PSAC victories a season ago were the most in school history.
 
NO CUPCAKES
While many teams tend to pad their records with very winnable non-conference games, SRU takes the opposite approach by scheduling as many competitive games as possible in preparation for a grueling PSAC West gauntlet.
 
Of its seven non-conference opponents in 2018-19, Ashland went 36-1 a season ago and advanced to the NCAA Division II national title game, Bowie State played for the Atlantic Region championship before finishing the season with a 22-10 record while Walsh (21-9), Wayne State (19-8) and Johnson C. Smith (18-10) all finished with winning records as well.
 
SUCCESS AGAINST ATLANTIC REGION FOES
In McGraw's four years in charge of the program, Slippery Rock is 8-3 against non PSAC Atlantic Region teams.
 
WELCOME BACK
Junior guard Brooke Hinderliter (28 starts), Henderson (25), junior guard Madison Johnson (22), junior forward LeeAnn Gibson (22) and senior guard Ciara Patterson (11) are all back from a season ago. The last time a Rock team returned five players who all started at least 11 games the previous year was in 2007-08.
 
MS. VERSATILITY
One of the top all-around guards in the PSAC, Hinderliter has started 56 of 57 possible games at Slippery Rock and has proven capable of doing a little bit of everything on the court. She earned All-PSAC West accolades a year ago after averaging 14.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 43.7 percent from the field overall and 86.1 percent at the foul line.
 
Hinderliter was the only player in the PSAC West a year ago to average at least 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game.
 
INSTANT OFFENSE
A dangerous scorer from anywhere on the court, Patterson averaged 15.8 points per game in 11 appearances a season ago including three contests with at least 21 points. Despite not even playing a half of season, Patterson's 29 3-pointers were still the most of any Rock player. SRU was 6-5 with Patterson in uniform a year ago and just 6-11 without her.
 
ONE FINAL GO-ROUND
Henderson is coming off of a career-year a season ago in which she shot 48.8 percent from the field to average 9.3 points per game in addition to 5.3 rebounds and 18 blocks. Henderson, who has not missed a game over her career, starts her senior year ranked 12th in program history in career blocks (44), 12th in offensive rebounds (122), 14th in defensive rebounds (279) and 18th in minutes played (1,830).
 
MORE FAMILIAR FACES
Johnson showed the ability to get by any PSAC defender in her first season at The Rock in 2017-18. The St. Francis University transfer averaged 9.2 points per game with her top offensive performances a season ago coming in the form of 27 points at Shippensburg, 17 points at Clarion and 18 points versus Seton Hill.
 
Sophomore guard Skyla O'Connor made immediate contributions to SRU as a freshman. A key rotational player off the bench, O'Connor concluded her freshman season having appeared in all 28 games and ranking second on the team with 26 steals which were the fourth most takeaways of any PSAC West rookie.
 
SRU will also receive an added boost with the return of redshirt sophomore guard Kasch Harris, who transferred to The Rock a year ago from Harford Community College, is healthy after missing last season with an injury.
 
HELP IS ON THE WAY
McGraw solidified The Rock's rotation with a pair of key transfers over the offseason in sophomore guard Daeja Quick and junior forward Karington Ketterer.
 
Quick had a stellar freshman campaign at the University of the District of Columbia, starting 26 of 28 games played with per game averages of 16.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Her early success was recognized when she was named the East Coast Conference Rookie of the Year.
 
Ketterer spent her first two collegiate seasons at Pitt-Johnstown where she appeared in 35 games over two years and at 6'0" will provide The Rock with some much-needed height in the interior.

LAST TIME vs. JOHNSON C. SMITH
Several Rock players played key roles in SRU's 2016 victory over Johnson C. Smith. In what was her first collegiate game, Hinderliter went for 18 points and four rebounds. In addition to making the game-winning free throw, Henderson scored eight points, collected four rebounds and made one steal. Junior forward LeeAnn Gibson came off the bench in her Rock debut to chip in seven points, four rebounds and one steal.
 
FREE THROW SUPERIORITY
A staple of any team coached by McGraw has been its exemplary free throw shooting. Four of the top-10 single-season team free throw shooting percentages have happened on McGraw's watch.
 
JOHNSON C. SMITH PRIMER
• 2017-18 Overall Record: 18-10
• 2017-18 CIAA Record: 10-6
• 2017-18 Postseason: CIAA Tournament (First Round)
• 2018-19 CIAA Preseason Poll: Second place
• Head Coach: Stephen Joyner Jr. | Seventh season (99-69)
 
ELIZABETH CITY STATE PRIMER
• 2017-18 Overall Record: 9-20
• 2017-18 CIAA Record: 2-14
• 2017-18 Postseason: N/A
• 2018-19 CIAA Preseason Poll: 10th place
• Head Coach: Antonio O. Davis | Second season (9-20)
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock hosts Bowie State University 3 p.m. Nov. 18 at Morrow Field House.
 



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