SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in a narrow 69-66 loss to Gannon University Wednesday at Morrow Field House.
 
The Rock (5-15, 3-11 PSAC West) and Golden Knights (16-4, 12-2 PSAC), which entered the contest ranked second in the PSAC West standings, played to a 34-34 tie heading into halftime before Gannon opened up an 11-point lead late in the third quarter.
 
SRU went on to trim its deficit to just one point with five minutes to play in regulation before Gannon was able to recover from The Rock's surge and escape with the road win. 13 of SRU's 20 games this season have been decided by 10 points or less.
 
The duo of Brooke Hinderliter and Daeja Quick took turns carrying The Rock's offense Wednesday. Hinderliter scored 16 of her game-high 19 points in the first half while Quick produced 11 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter.
 
Quick also closed the contest with six assists, four steals and just one turnover while Hinderliter added four rebounds and a pair of assists. Madison Johnson and LeeAnn Gibson both finished in double figures as well with Johnson going for 12 points and two assists and Gibson tallying 10 points.
 
Karington Ketterer chipped in seven points, four rebounds, two blocks and one steal while Brittany Andrews came off the bench to round out SRU's top performers with a five-point, two-rebound effort.
 
Slippery Rock played one of its most efficient halves of basketball of the season to open the game as SRU made 50 percent (14-of-28) of its field goals including a 3-for-6 showing from long range.
 
Gannon, which also shot 50 percent (15-of-30) in the first half, managed to open up a seven-point lead at 27-20 with 5:53 to play in the second quarter before Slippery Rock closed the first half on a 14-7 spurt to head into the halftime break tied at 34-34. The run was sparked by eight points from Hinderliter, four from Johnson and two by Quick.
 
The Golden Knights grabbed the momentum coming out of halftime as they scored 18 of 25 points in the third quarter to pull ahead 52-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Undeterred, Slippery Rock answered back with a quality 16-6 run of its own that cut Gannon's lead down to 58-57 with five minutes left in regulation. Quick guided The Rock with nine points during the spurt via a pair of 3-pointers and three foul shots.
 
However, Gannon was able to end any thoughts of a Rock comeback as it pushed its lead back out to seven points at 66-59 with 1:42 left to play. To their credit, The Rock continued to fight and even had a chance to hit a game-tying 3-pointer as time expired, but a Hinderliter attempt from long range was off, giving Gannon the three-point win.
 
Slippery Rock finished the night shooting 43.1 percent (25-for-58) from the field overall, 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from 3-point range and 90 percent (9-for-10) at the free throw line while also committing just 12 turnovers to the Golden Knights' 13 miscues, which SRU turned into 15 points.
 
As a team, Gannon shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the field overall, 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from 3-point range) and 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the foul line while holding a 35-27 rebounding advantage over The Rock. 40 of Gannon's 69 points were scored in the paint.
 
Tori Obenrader and Chelsea Rourke each recorded 15 points and eight rebounds for Gannon with Rourke also blocking two shots and making three steals.
 
Slippery Rock will now take to the road for a 1 p.m. Saturday game at Cal U. The Vulcans earned a close 68-59 win over The Rock at SRU earlier in the season.
 
 

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