INDIANA, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team dropped a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division road contest to No. 4 Indiana University (Pa.), 88-51, Wednesday night.
 
The loss drops The Rock's record to 9-12 overall and 7-8 in the PSAC West while the nationally ranked Crimson Hawks improve to 19-1 overall and 14-1 in league games.
 
Indiana scored the first 11 points of regulation to put Slippery Rock in a hole it could never recover from. IUP led by as many as 31 points in the first quarter before taking a 30-point advantage into the halftime break. The Crimson Hawks went on to stretch their lead out to as many as 41 points in the second half before finishing out the 88-51 victory.
 
A bright spot for The Rock was the play of freshman Olivia Fusaro, who saw a season-high 18 minutes of playing time and in turn produced 15 points, five rebounds and one steal. Fusaro was a solid 5-for-11 from the field as well as going 4-for-7 at the foul line.
 
Brooke Hinderliter and LeeAnn Gibson chipped in seven points and six rebounds apiece while Madison Johnson and Ciara Patterson added six points each to round out The Rock's top scorers.
 
Morgan Henderson, the PSAC's leading rebounder, grabbed five rebounds Wednesday as did Brittany Andrews. Defensively, Daeja Quick came away with a pair of steals.
 
Slippery Rock had an off-night shooting as a team, finishing the game at just 22.5 percent (16-for-71) from the field overall, 20.7 percent (6-for-29) from 3-point range and 61.9 percent (13-for-21) at foul line. The Rock did hold a 47-41 edge in rebounding over the Crimson Hawks. Included in SRU's rebounding total was a season-high matching 20 offensive boards.  
 
Natalie Myers scored a game-high 17 points and Lauren Wolosik just missed out on a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds to lead IUP. The Crimson Hawks shot 54.1 percent (33-for-61) overall, 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from deep and 57.7 percent (15-for-26) at the foul line. IUP forced SRU into 18 turnovers that resulted in 32 points off turnovers.
 
Slippery Rock will look to bounce back from Wednesday's defeat with a road victory Saturday at Seton Hill University. Opening tip between The Rock and Griffins is set for 1 p.m.
 


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