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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - In its final preparation for the 2021-22 season, the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team will play its second exhibition of the preseason against a Division I team when it travels to the University of Akron 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for a contest at the James A. Rhodes Arena.  
 
TICKETS
Fans can purchase single-game tickets HERE.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live audio and in-game statistics for Tuesday's game will be available at the below links.
 
GAME DETAILS
Opponent: Akron
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 8 – 5:30 p.m.
Location: James A. Rhodes Arena | Akron, Ohio
Audio: Link
Live Stats: Link
Tickets: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series (Regular Season): SRU leads 2-0
All-Time Series (Exhibitions): Akron leads 3-0
Last Played: Nov. 8, 2008 (Akron won 90-60)
 
SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's game marks the fifth time overall that The Rock and Akron have played in a game. SRU and the Zips have met twice in regular season games, Rock wins in 1976 and 1982, while more recently Akron has captured three exhibition victories versus Slippery Rock prior to the 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 seasons.
 
LAST TIME OUT
In its first exhibition of the year against nationally ranked Ohio State University, which was slotted as the No. 17 team in the country, SRU lost 96-48 on the road in Columbus, Ohio Nov. 3. 
 
ROCK-AKRON CONNECTION
Slippery Rock and Akron share one very important common thread in each program's history in the form of Jodi Kest, who in addition to coaching Akron to a program record 179 wins over a 12-year career (2006-18), was also a standout student-athlete at SRU (1980-84) and is still The Rock's 11th leading scorer all-time.
 
OHIO STATE RECAP
Slippery Rock played Ohio State tight for the opening half of the first quarter as OSU led by just five points at 14-9 five minutes into the game. However, the Buckeyes closed out the quarter on a 20-3 run to break the game open. Ohio State went on to lead by 31 points going into halftime on the way to the eventual 96-48 win.
 
The Rock made six 3-pointers and shot an efficient 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from the field overall in the opening 20 minutes before fading slightly down the stretch in the second half.
 
MIDDLETON AND GIBSON GREAT FROM DEEP
Slippery Rock newcomers Isabellah Middleton and Deleah Gibson introduced themselves to the SRU program in fine fashion in their Green and White debuts against Ohio State as the pair combined to go 6-for-12 (.500) from 3-point range.
 
Middleton, a redshirt freshman from Leesburg, Virginia scored 13 points on the night thanks in part to a 3-for-5 showing from long range while Gibson, a junior transfer from Youngstown State, also tallied 13 points off of a 3-for-7 effort from 3-point range in addition to passing out three assists and making a pair of steals.
 
Two years ago, Slippery Rock had two players make three 3-pointers in a game just once - Daeja Quick and Madison Johnson vs. Shepherd.
 
JOHNSON LIVES UP TO HYPE
Jamiyah Johnson held her own against an Ohio State frontline that included five players 5-11 or taller as the graduate transfer center finished the game with a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds over 31 minutes played.
 
The prolific rebounder enters the regular season with a strong chance to become the sixth player in program history to average 10 or more rebounds per game for a season and the first since Stacey Green pulled in 10.3 rpg over a 26-game season in 2002-03.
 
QUICK LEADS ALL IN ASSISTS
Daeja Quick recorded a game-high in assists against Ohio State as the redshirt senior guard assisted on six of The Rock's 16 made field goals (not counting her own successful shots).
 
While statistics from exhibitions do not count towards a player's official stats, the six-assist game against the Buckeyes would have marked the seventh time in Quick's tenure at The Rock in which she finished a contest with six or more assists.
 
OTHER EARLY RETURNS
In addition to Middleton, Gibson, Quick and Johnson, nearly every player on The Rock's 2021-22 roster saw time against OSU including Anyah Curd (3 reb.), Kelley McKnight (3 pts., 3 reb.), Jade Roddy (2 pts., 1 reb.), Kaylin Venick (3 reb.), Emily Venick (1 ast.), Emily Grandy (1 reb., 1 ast.), Bella Long (1 reb.), Jordan Kaufman and Hallie Raabe (1 reb.).
 
EXHIBITION SEASON
Tuesday's game marks the second of two Division I exhibitions The Rock will play this season, SRU also played at Ohio State on Nov. 3, and the 13th such contest for Slippery Rock dating back to the 2006-07 season. While the actual results pale in comparison to the experience against top-flight competition, SRU did nearly defeat Akron in 2006-07 while playing North Carolina A&T close in 2016-17.
 
Previous D1 Exhibitions
Akron (Nov. 6, 2006)-L, 58-55
Akron (Nov. 3, 2007)-L, 86-44
Akron (Nov. 8, 2008)-L, 90-60
Saint Francis (Pa.) (Nov. 6, 2009)-L, 106-59
Miami (Ohio) (Nov. 5, 2011)-L, 72-32
Michigan (Nov. 2, 2012)-L, 106-35
Bowling Green (Nov. 3, 2012)-L, 105-39
Indiana (Nov. 8, 2015) -L, 98-33
Pittsburgh (Nov. 23, 2016)-L, 94-48
North Carolina A&T (Dec. 17, 2016)-L, 70-59
Cincinnati (Nov. 13, 2017)-L, 85-52
Ohio State (Nov. 5, 2021)-L, 96-48
 
ROCK NAMES CO-CAPTAINS FOR 2021-22
Quick and Gibson were named co-captains for the 2021-22 season.
 
ROCK PICKED TO FINISH 8th IN PSAC WEST
Slippery Rock was picked to finish eighth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division this season, by the league's coaches in the PSAC's annual preseason poll.
 
Reigning 2019-20 PSAC Tournament champion Gannon University received four first-place votes and was picked to win the PSAC West. Indiana University (Pa.) collected four first-place votes and was tabbed second followed by California University (Pa.), Mercyhurst University and Seton Hill University in the top five with Mercyhurst receiving the final first-place ballot.
 
Edinboro University, Pitt-Johnstown, The Rock and Clarion rounded out the second half of the poll.
 
McGRAW OPENS YEAR 4th ON ROCK WINS LIST
McGraw will open the season ranked fourth among the 15 all-time coaches at The Rock for wins in a career with 65 behind Anne Griffiths (1966-79 / 111), Laurel Heilman (2000-10 / 110) and Kathy Walton (1982-88 / 82).
 
SISTER ACT
Slippery Rock features not one, but two sets of sisters this season in Emily Venick / Kaylin Venick and Isabellah / Kennedy Middleton.
 
The Venick's and Middleton's will become the first sisters to play for Slippery Rock in the same season since Alissa and Jess Schake did so for four seasons (2005-08).
 
REMARKABLE TURNAROUND
Slippery Rock has won 65 games in seven years under head coach Bobby McGraw. It took The Rock nine seasons to reach just 63 victories prior to McGraw's arrival.
 
More impressive than SRU's overall win turnaround under McGraw has been its performance in league games. The Rock has won 47 PSAC West contests in McGraw's seven-year tenure. Comparatively, it took the program 12 years prior to McGraw's arrival to compile 41 league victories.
 
The Rock's +33 conference-win total in McGraw's first six seasons (47) compared to the six-year total immediately preceding his arrival (14) ranks third in the PSAC behind only East Stroudsburg (+42) and Indiana (+39).

SCOUTING THE ZIPS
Senior Jordyn Dawson, who averaged a team-high 15.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest a year ago en route to third-team All-Mid-American Conference accolades leads the Akron returners. Akron will also be bolstered by the return of nearly its entire 2020-21 roster, including seniors Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell (4.2 ppg), Kendall Miller 5.5 ppg, 2.33 apg) and Colleen Neitzel 5.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg), junior Lonasia Brewer (10.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and redshirt sophomore Emma Tecca (5.4 ppg), who all started in double-figure contests for the Zips.
 
Juniors Rachel Martindale (5.8 ppg) and Molly Neitzel (6.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg), redshirt sophomore Layne Ferrell 5.5 ppg) and sophomore Alexis Stewart (2.9 ppg) added valuable contributions for Akron appearing in double-digit games last season.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock officially starts its 2021-22 regular season this weekend with a pair of games at the Earl Lloyd Classic in Institute, West Virginia as SRU first plays Notre Dame College 6 p.m. Saturday followed by a 3 p.m. Sunday contest against host West Virginia State University.
 
 



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