INSTITUTE, W. VA - The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team opened the 2021-22 regular season with an 84-66 victory over Notre Dame College at the Earl Lloyd Classic Saturday in Institute, West Virginia.
 
The Rock's (1-0) efforts were headed by Jamiyah Johnson who collected the 45th double-double of her career, and first at SRU, on 19 points and 16 rebounds while going 7-of-14 from the field.
 
Johnson was joined by Daeja Quick, Deleah Gibson and Anyah Curd atop of The Rocks leading scorers. Quick ended the night with 17 points, three assists and four steals while going 8-of-11 overall from the field. Gibson led SRU's 3-point efforts going 3-of-8 from long range while totaling 15 points. Curd also tallied 15 points to go along with five rebounds.
 
Rounding out Slippery Rock's top performers was the duo of Isabellah Middleton and Kennedy Middleton who each scored nine points apiece. Isabellah Middleton fell just shy of a double-double, collecting 10 rebounds, while Kennedy Middleton tallied six rebounds.
 
The Rock got off to an early 5-0 run through the first two minutes of the first quarter before the Falcons answered with a basket of their own. Slippery Rock and Notre Dame (0-1) played even for the remainder of the quarter exchanging 7-0 runs leading to an eventual 18-17 lead for NDC heading into the second period.
 
Slippery Rock played Notre Dame tightly through the first minutes of the second quarter with the score being tied 29-29 with less than five minutes to play in the half. SRU then pulled away from the Falcons as they went on a 12-4 run taking a 41-33 lead at the half.
 
Coming out of the break The Rock would go on to extend their advantage over Notre Dame by as many as 21 (69-48) with 56 seconds left to play in the third quarter. Slippery Rock would never relinquish its lead as it went on to outscore the Falcons 24-15 in the third quarter and 28-18 in the fourth leading to an eventual 84-66 Rock victory.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock shot 50 percent (35-of-70) from the floor, 25 percent (6-of-24) from 3-point range and 50 percent (8-of-16) from the foul line. The last time The Rock shot 50 percent from the field was Feb. 13, 2019 against Mercyhurst University (52.5 percent).
 
Slippery Rock held a decisive 49-34 edge over Notre Dame in rebounds with 18 coming on the offensive glass. SRU also held a 15-9 advantage in second chance points while also leading 20-12 in points off of turnovers and a 16-4 lead in fast break points.
 
Notre Dame ended the game shooting 36.9 percent (24-of-65) from the floor, 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from 3-point range and 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the foul line. NDC forced SRU into 19 turnovers while committing 14 miscues of its own. Jennifer Oduho and Alana Ellis combined to score 55 of Notre Dame's 66 points. 
 
Slippery Rock concludes its time at the Earl Lloyd Classic against host West Virginia State University, 3 p.m. Sunday.
 


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