EDINBORO, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team lost a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game to No. 13 Edinboro University, 94-61, Wednesday night at McComb Fieldhouse.
 
Despite the loss, Wednesday was a productive day for Slippery Rock as SRU clinched a berth into the upcoming PSAC Tournament due to California's 60-50 win against Mercyhurst.

SRU is assured of at least the sixth seed in the PSAC West, but still has the chance to move up as it trails fifth-place Gannon by just a half-game with two contests remaining in the year, one of which being against the Golden Knights.
 
Slippery Rock, which is 12-13 on the season overall and 10-10 in league games this season, will be making its second appearance in the PSAC Tournament in the last four years. Prior to the 2014-15 season SRU had not made the PSAC Tournament since 2000-01.
 
Edinboro, which entered the game ranked 13th in the nation by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, and third in the Atlantic Region rankings, improved to 21-2 on the year overall and 17-2 in conference games.
 
Slippery Rock trailed Edinboro by 12 points at 39-27 to start the third quarter, but promptly went to work on a 10-4 run to cut the Fighting Scots' lead down to just six points with 6:13 remaining in the period. Madison Johnson spearheaded the spurt with five points. However, Edinboro went on to finish the quarter by scoring 23 of the period's final 30 points to open up a commanding 66-44 lead The Rock could never recover from as the Fighting Scots cruised to the eventual win.
 
Edinboro made eight of its final 12 shots in the decisive third quarter and SRU was whistled for 11 fouls, eight of which occurred following SRU's run. The 11 fouls were the third highest total called against Slippery Rock in a single quarter this season.
 
Brooke Hinderliter led all Rock players with 14 points, five rebounds, one block and one steal. Johnson added 11 points and three assists while LeeAnn Gibson was The Rock's third player to reach double figures with a 10-point, five-rebound showing. Gibson has scored at least 10 points points in four straight games and six of the last eight overall.
 
Sierra Fordham added seven points and two blocks. Morgan Henderson fought through foul trouble to collect a team-high seven rebounds and make two steals. Mallory Heinle came off the bench to block a team-high three shots and match Henderson with seven rebounds of her own.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock blocked seven shots Wednesday night to push its total on the year to a single-season program record 101. Offensively, SRU shot 36.1 percent (22-for-61) from the floor overall and an uncharacteristically low 52.6 percent (10-for-19) from the foul line.
 
Michaela Barnes scored a game-high 25 points to pace Edinboro. Ciara Rosten recorded 11 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks. Edinboro made a season-high 13 3-pointers while shooting 41.6 percent overall and 48.1 percent from long range. The Fighting Scots also held a 52-41 advantage in rebounding over The Rock in addition to forcing SRU into 19 turnovers.
 
Slippery Rock will close out the home portion of its regular season schedule 1 p.m. Saturday against Pitt-Johnstown at Morrow Field House. Prior to the game SRU's 2017-18 senior class of Fordham, Heinle and Krista Pietropola will be honored for their contributions to the program over their careers.
 


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