SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team couldn't overcome a stagnant second quarter in a 70-58 loss to Pitt-Johnstown Saturday afternoon at Morrow Field House.
With the defeat, Slippery Rock's record drops to 12-14 overall and 10-11 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition. The Mountain Cats improve to 10-16 on the season overall and 7-14 in league games.
The Rock's loss, combined with Gannon's win against Mercyhurst, ensures that SRU will enter the upcoming conference tournament as the sixth seed out of the PSAC West while Gannon will be the fifth seed. Slippery Rock's first round opponent is still to be determined.
UPJ outscored Slippery Rock just 53-52 over the first, third and fourth quarters, but used a 17-6 second period to pull away from SRU.
Brooke Hinderliter scored a team-high 17 points to go with five rebounds, three of which came on the offensive glass, four assists and two steals. With a minimum of two games remaining in her sophomore season, Hinderliter is already just two points away from breaking into the top 30 in points scored in a career at SRU.
Playing in her final home game,
Mallory Heinle was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 2-for-2 from the foul line on the way to an 11-point outing that also included six rebounds.
Morgan Henderson came off the be to give The Rock 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.
LeeAnn Gibson chipped in eight points while
Krista Pietropola, also playing in her final home game, added six points, five rebounds and one block.
Outside of the second quarter Slippery Rock shot a respectable 41.3 percent from the field, but a 3-for-15 mark in the second period lowered The Rock's overall percentage to 36.1. SRU also shot 90.9 percent (10-for-11) from the foul line and forced Pitt-Johnstown into 18 turnovers.
The Mountain Cats were 47.2 percent (25-for-53) from the field overall and 84.2 percent (16-for-19) at the free throw line. UPJ accounted for 40 points in the paint while also holding advantages over SRU in rebounds (34-31), steals (9-6) and blocks (8-3).
Heinle connected on a pair of 3-pointers and The Rock's defense forced the Mountain Cats to commit seven turnovers and go just 3-for-11 from the field en route to a 14-6 SRU lead through the first quarter of play. Hinderliter also scored four points for Slippery Rock in the opening quarter.
However, everything that could go wrong for Slippery Rock seemingly did in the second period; SRU shot just 20 percent from the field, committed five turnovers and allowed the Mountain Cats to make six layups and take a 25-20 lead into halftime. Slippery Rock only scored two points over the final 5:13 of the first half.
SRU rebounded nicely from its shaky second quarter coming out of the break by cutting Pitt-Johnstown's lead down to one point on three different occasions, but UPJ was able to do just enough during each Rock spurt to stave off the comeback attempt and carry a 43-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
Madison Johnson connected on a fast break jumper off of a pass from Pietropola 20 seconds into the final quarter to trim UPJ's lead to 43-41, but the two-point margin would be as close as Slippery Rock could get the rest of the game. The Mountain Cats proceeded to rattle off a 14-4 run over the next four minutes, opening up a 12-point lead, 57-45, on the way to an eventual 70-58 victory.
Gabrielle Smith scored 22 points, passed out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds to pace the Mountain Cats. Alexis Hartwick also scored 16 points in the win.
Saturday was Senior Day at Morrow Field House. Prior to the game The Rock's senior class of Heinle, Pietropola and
Sierra Fordham were recognized for their contributions to the program over their careers.
Slippery Rock will close out the regular season on the road 1 p.m. Feb. 24 at Gannon.
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