KUTZTOWN, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team lost a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover contest on the road Friday at Kutztown University, 69-56.
 
Slippery Rock (2-8, 0-4 PSAC) and Kutztown (6-4, 3-1 PSAC) were tied at 42-42 with four minutes to play in the third quarter, but the Golden Bears outscored The Rock 27-14 over the contest's final 14 minutes en route to the 13-point victory.
 
Brooke Hinderliter led the way for The Rock with a game-high 26 points. In what was one of her most efficient games of the year, Hinderliter went 8-for-15 from the field overall, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 8-for-9 from the foul line all the while pulling down four rebounds and making two steals.
 
Madison Johnson just missed out on a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds while also dishing out two assists.
 
LeeAnn Gibson added three points and six rebounds while fellow starter Karington Ketterer also hauled in four rebounds.
 
Kasch Harris led all Rock reserves with three points, three rebounds and two steals. Olivia Fusaro, Brittany Andrews, Anyah Curd and Carol Weber all scored two points apiece with Curd totaling three rebounds and Weber blocking one shot to round out SRU's top performers.
 
Slippery Rock controlled the majority of the first quarter thanks in large part to a defensive effort that limited Kutztown to a 21.4 field goal percentage, including a 1-for-10 showing from 3-point range, while also forcing four turnovers.
 
Hinderliter led thee offense in the opening 10 minutes with six points while a steal and resulting buzzer-beating layup by Fusaro sent SRU into the second quarter leading the Golden Bears 15-10.
 
SRU and Kutztown traded runs in the second quarter, but the Golden Bears ultimately rallied back from their poor shooting in the first quarter by going 6-for-15 from 3-point range in the second to erase an eight-point Rock lead and take a 35-33 advantage into halftime.
 
The Rock and Golden Bears traded baskets for much of the third quarter, but with the game tied at 42-42 with four minutes remaining in the quarter Kutztown closed out the period on an 8-3 run to take a 50-45 lead with 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
However, a Rock comeback was not to be as Kutztown opened the fourth quarter by extending its lead to 62-50 midway through the final quarter before closing out the game content to trade baskets with SRU.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock shot 34 percent (17-for-50) from the field overall and 74.1 percent (20-for-27) from the free throw line. After committing at least 20 turnovers in each of its last two games, SRU did a much better job of possessing the basketball Friday as it had just 13 miscues while holding a 6-3 edge over KU in steals.
 
Kutztown shot 34.4 percent (21-of-61) from the floor. Over half of the Golden Bears' made field goals came from long range as KU connected on 12 3-pointers despite shooting just 27.3 percent from deep. Kutztown took advantage of a 43-35 edge in rebounds by scoring 21 second chance points thanks to 17 offensive rebounds.
 
Rylee Derr led Kutztown with 22 points and nine rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock will close out the weekend with another PSAC crossover contest 5:30 p.m. Saturday at West Chester University.
 


 
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