SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team dropped a tight 82-76 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division decision on the road Saturday afternoon at Seton Hill University.
 
Slippery Rock (3-12, 1-8 PSAC) trailed by just one point with one minute remaining in regulation, but Seton Hill (12-2, 7-2 PSAC) was able to put the game away when Sydney Rabold hit a corner 3-pointer with 39 seconds left to play that gave SHU a four-point lead that SRU was ultimately unable to answer in what was The Rock's ninth game of 2019-20 that was decided by 10 points or less.
 
Brooke Hinderliter was dominant for The Rock on Saturday, turning in a 26-point, eight-rebound, three-assist, one-steal performance. In addition to going 5-for-14 from the field overall, Hinderliter was a perfect 15-for-15 from the foul line. Hinderliter's 15 made free throws were the most by a PSAC athlete in a single-game this season.
 
With 26 points Saturday, Hinderliter moved into third place in Slippery Rock history for points scored in a career with 1,485. She is now 210 points away from passing Kory Fielitz (1990-94) for second place and 276 shy of breaking Heather Kearney's (1995-99) school-record 1,760 points scored.
 
LeeAnn Gibson turned in one of the top games of her career with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Six of Gibson's 10 rebounds came on the offensive glass. Gibson's 17 points were a career-high.
 
Madison Johnson and Daeja Quick both finished in double figures as Johnson scored 13 points with Quick adding 11. Johnson and Quick both produced eight rebounds, two steals and one block apiece as well.
 
Karington Ketterer blocked two shots and grabbed seven rebounds. Ketterer now has six blocks over The Rock's last three games.
 
Off the bench, Anyah Curd scooped up five rebounds to go with four points, Brittany Andrews chipped in three points, Caroline Gibson dished out two assists and Carol Weber corralled a pair of rebounds to round out The Rock's top performers.
 
Seton Hill opened the game by making five of its first eight shots in addition to four foul shots while holding The Rock to a 25.0 field goal percentage on the way to a 16-9 lead through the first six minutes of the first quarter. The Rock and Griffins traded baskets through the remainder of the first quarter, resulting in a 25-16 SHU lead after 10 minutes of play.
 
Slippery Rock's defensive performance drastically improved in the second quarter as The Rock forced SHU into four turnovers while limiting the high-scoring Griffins to just six points over the quarter's opening five minutes all the while chipping away at their deficit en route to pulling to within three points of Seton Hill, 31-28, going into the media timeout at the 4:55 mark in the period.
 
SRU continued to be the aggressors coming out of the break as it closed the half on an impressive 12-7 run to take a 40-38 lead into the halftime break. Hinderliter spearheaded the late run with five of The Rock's final 12 points.
 
The Rock and Griffins traded baskets for the entirety of the third quarter until Gibson converted a layup with 40 seconds left in the period to send The Rock into the fourth quarter with a 61-59 advantage on the road.
 
The fourth quarter was nearly identical to the third quarter as neither team was able to gain an edge over its counterpart and with 2:18 to play in regulation the game was tied at 73-73. However Samantha Kosmacki connected on a wide-open 3-point attempt to give the Griffins a three-point lead on the ensuing possession.
 
Slippery Rock was able to cut SHU's lead down to one point via a pair of Hinderliter foul shots, but Seton Hill once again answered back with another open 3-pointer, this one from the corner by Rabold, to give the Griffins a 79-75 lead it would never relinquish on the way to its six-point win.
 
Slippery Rock did a terrific job of taking care of the basketball on Saturday with just five turnovers. Not only were the five turnovers a season-low, but Saturday marked the fewest amount of turnovers for Slippery Rock in a single-game dating back to Dec. 4, 2008, a total of 306 games, when it had just five turnovers against Salem University.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock shot 35.3 percent (24-for-68) from the field overall, 33.3 percent (5-for-15) from 3-point range and 79.3 percent (23-for-29) at the foul line while holding advantages over the Griffins in steals (7-5), offensive rebounds (18-16), points off turnovers (13-1), points in the paint (34-30) and second chance points (18-9).
 
Seton Hill concluded the contest shooting 40.3 percent (25-for-62) from the field, 31 percent (9-for-29) from 3-point range and 76.7 percent (23-for-30) from the foul line. Katie Nolan had a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Griffins while Lexi Civittolo scored a team-high 15 points.  
 
Slippery Rock returns home for its final PSAC crossover contest of the year when it hosts Millersville University 5:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at Morrow Field House.



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