SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team rallied from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter to force overtime and pulled away in the extra period for a 77-71 victory over Notre Dame College (Ohio) in a non-conference game Saturday from Morrow Field House.
 
The victory is the fourth straight for SRU and improves The Rock to 5-1 on the year, marking the best start to a season for the program in more than 20 years dating back to the 1999-00 team that was 5-1 through six games and went 13-1 over its first 14 games. Notre Dame drops to 3-3 on the season with two of those three losses coming against Slippery Rock after the teams also met in the season opener, which SRU won 84-66.
 
The Falcons led by nine points at halftime, 33-24, and extended their lead out to the largest for either team in the game at 35-24 with 7:57 to play in the third quarter.
 
Slippery Rock chipped away at the margin, outscoring Notre Dame 19-14 in the third quarter before the Falcons edged the advantage back out to six points, 61-55 with 3:29 to play.
 
The Rock defense slammed the door from there, not allowing another point for the remainder of regulation while the offense closed the half on a 6-0 run to tie the game. Isabellah Middleton started the rally with a layup with 2:13 to play that cut the margin to four points. Her sister Kennedy Middleton narrowed the gap to two points with a layup with 1:36 to play and Anyah Curd tied the game at 61-61 with 51 seconds left after knocking down a layup.
 
Both teams had a chance to regain the lead in the final minute, but neither could convert.
 
The teams traded buckets early in the overtime period with Notre Dame opening up a 66-65 lead with 3:22 to play. From there, SRU put together a 6-0 run to open up a 71-66 advantage with just 1:39 to play. The Falcons would get no closer than four points the rest of the way as SRU sealed the game at the free throw line.
 
Slippery Rock shot 35.4 percent from the field in the first half before shooting 60 percent in the third quarter, 50 percent in the fourth quarter and 83.3 percent in overtime. The Rock finished the game shooting 48.5 percent from the field (33-of-68), 18.2 percent from 3-point after hitting just 2-of-11 shots from deep and 69.2 percent from the free throw line (9-of-13).
 
Notre Dame got more than half of its points from the long ball, knocking down 12-of-30 (40.0 percent) attempts from beyond the 3-point line. The Falcons shot 42.4 percent overall (25-of-59) and were 64.3 percent at the free throw line (9-of-14).
 
Both teams grabbed 36 rebounds in the game, but SRU was much more dominant at scoring in the paint, posting a 52-20 advantage in points in the paint. The Rock were able to turn 28 Notre Dame turnovers into a 24-16 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Jamiyah Johnson led Slippery Rock in scoring with her sixth double-double of the season with 22 points and 14 rebounds on a 10-of-14 shooting effort. She also handed out five assists and blocked two shots.
 
The Rock had five players finish in double figures with both Middleton sisters chipping in 14 points. Kennedy grabbed six rebounds and had four steals and Isabellah had three assists and three steals. Daeja Quick also scored 14 points and Curd finished with 10 points. SRU got just three points off the bench with Emily Venick netting those.
 
Notre Dame was led by Alana Ellis with 17 points. Jennifer Oduho added 16 points, Amil Ali-Shakir scored 15 points and had five steals and Jada Marone scored 14 points.
 
Slippery Rock will return to PSAC play next weekend with a pair of road games, first traveling to Mansfield University Friday before visiting Bloomsburg University Saturday. Both games are set for 5:30 p.m. starts.
 
 

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