CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team lost on the road in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition to California University (Pa.), 76-59, Saturday afternoon.
 
Slippery Rock (5-16, 3-12 PSAC) led by as many nine, but a flurry of Cal U (15-6, 9-6 PSAC) responses including a 23-4 run over the final 8:17 of the game secured the victory for the Vulcans.
 
Three of the five SRU starters finished in double figures, including Daeja Quick who finished with a team-high 17 points. Quick was followed by Madison Johnson who finished with 15 points, 11 of which came in the first-half.
 
Brooke Hinderliter used a strong second half to finish with her first double-double effort of the season at 14 points while tying a career-high in rebounds with 11 along with three assists. Hinderliter added to her career accolades in the contest as well, making her 104th career start for SRU, the most in program history. 
 
LeeAnn Gibson recorded six points along with seven rebounds and two steals. The senior now sits at 469 career rebounds in her chase of becoming the 17th member of the SRU women's basketball 500 point/500 rebound club. Anyah Curd tied a career-high in rebounds with nine while adding two blocks. 
 
Slippery Rock dominated the majority of the first quarter that ended in a 16-10 lead for The Rock. Johnson led the scoring effort for SRU to open the game, recording five of her 11 first-half points in the first quarter.
 
The Rock continued to stretch its lead in the second quarter when a Kasch Harris 3-pointer gave SRU its largest lead of the game at 21-12, forcing a Vulcan timeout at the 8:16 mark in the second quarter.
 
Cal U responded coming out of the timeout by going on a 8-0 run over its own, sparked by a pair of Shauna Harrison 3-pointers to cut The Rock lead to 21-20 with 4:43 remaining in the half.
 
A Johnson made jumper broke the run with 2:46 remaining before halftime, the teams would exchange buckets through the remainder of the half, ending in a 29-29 tie at the break.
 
The Rock and Vulcans continued their exchanging of baskets at the start of the third quarter, with Hinderliter catching fire from the start of the quarter.
 
The senior added eight of her 14 points in the third frame to keep pace with a Cal U offense that was sparked by five Halle Herrington points in the quarter, giving the Vulcans a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Vulcans were finally able to put away the upset-minded Rock in the fourth quarter thanks to a commanding 23-4 run that sealed the 17-point home win. 
 
SRU concluded the contest shooting 40.0 percent (24-60) but SRU suffered through its worst performance at the foul line this season as it made just 42.9 percent (9-21) of its free throws.
 
Slippery Rock held Cal U to a 32.9 percent (25-76) field goal percentage, but the Vulcans were able to shoot 82.4 percent (14-17) from the free throw line. California also finished +5 (48-43) in the rebounding margin with 22 offensive rebounds along with scoring 17 points off of 15 Rock turnovers. 
 
Harrison led the scoring attack for Cal U with a double-double effort, finishing with 18 points and 13 rebounds along with three steals and two assists.
 
Slippery Rock returns to action when it hosts Clarion University at Morrow Field House 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.


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