ERIE, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit to tie the game with 1:36 to play, but Gannon University was able to hold on for a 75-69 victory Wednesday night.
 
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division defeat drops The Rock's record to 8-11 overall and 6-7 in league games while Gannon improves to 10-11 overall and 6-7 in conference competition with the win.
 
Slippery Rock, which trailed 55-41 with 2:08 left in third quarter, spent the fourth quarter chipping away at the Gannon lead and with just 96 seconds left in regulation, Brooke Hinderliter converted a jumper to tie the game at 67-67.
 
However, SRU would be unable to pull ahead of the host Golden Knights as Gannon closed out the game with Ivana Twumasi making a go-ahead layup followed by two defensive stands and six straight free throws to hold on for a narrow five-point victory.
 
Slippery Rock was led in scoring on the night by Brooke Hinderliter and Ciara Patterson. Hinderliter overcame a shaky first half to score a team-high 17 points, collect three rebounds, make two steals and block one shot. Patterson made three 3-pointers on the way to a 15-point, one-steal showing.
 
Madison Johnson continued her recent run of great play by coming off the bench to go for 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds and one steal. LeeAnn Gibson also finished in double figures with 10 points.
 
Morgan Henderson, the PSAC's leading rebounder, grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Daeja Quick passed out a team-high five assists, Skyla O'Connor corralled four rebounds and Karington Ketterer blocked one shot to round out The Rock's top performers.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock shot 37.3 percent from field overall, 23.8 percent (5-for-21) from 3-point range and 73.8 percent (14-for-19) from the foul line. Slippery Rock committed just 11 turnovers while forcing Gannon into 17 miscues which resulted in 13 points off turnovers for SRU.
 
Slippery Rock was hitting on all cylinders in the first quarter as The Rock connected on three 3-pointers and knocked down 50 percent of its total shots in the opening 10 minutes while holding Gannon to a 31.6 field goal percentage to take a 21-12 lead through the opening 10 minutes.
 
However, the second quarter was a polar opposite for Slippery Rock, which committed six turnovers, went 3-for-15 from the field offensively and sent Gannon to the foul line 12 times, resulting in 10 points, to help the Golden Knights go on a 24-8 run that resulted in a 36-29 halftime lead.
 
Fouls piled up for SRU's guards in the second quarter. Kasch Harris was whistled for three fouls with starters Quick and Patterson, who scored eight points in the first quarter, both spending the majority of the second period on the bench with two fouls apiece.
 
Slippery Rock and Gannon traded baskets for much of the third quarter with Hinderliter scoring four straight points to end the period to cut The Rock's deficit down to nine points at 55-46 headed into the fourth.
 
SRU carried over its momentum from the end of the third quarter into the fourth by scoring seven of the quarter's first eight points courtesy of five points from Patterson and two from Johnson to make it a 56-53 contest.
 
From there, The Rock and Golden Knights went on to trade baskets over the next seven minutes before Hinderliter made her aforementioned game-tying jumper only for Gannon to bounce back and pull away down the stretch.
 
Gannon hit 41.8 percent of its shots overall, including a 28.6 percent (4-for-11) showing from deep. The Golden Knights made the most of 26 Slippery Rock fouls by making 25 of 31 free throws. GU also held a 45-33 edge over SRU in rebounding.
 
Sydney Mitchell secured a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds to go with five assists to pace Gannon. Chelsea Rourke added 20 points as well.
 
Slippery Rock returns home to host No. 10 California University (Pa.) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Morrow Field House. Earlier in the season, the Vulcans narrowly avoided a Rock upset with a 78-72 home victory.
 
 


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