SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Behind a strong second-half showing, Kutztown University defeated the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team, 62-47, Saturday at Morrow Field House in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover competition.
 
With the loss, Slippery Rock's record falls to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in league games while Kutztown improves to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC.
 
The Rock held a seven-point lead going into halftime, but Kutztown rallied to outscore SRU 37-15 in the second half to leave Morrow Field House with the 15-point win.
 
Jamiyah Johnson and Anyah Curd both finished in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Johnson also collected 13 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the year while Curd totaled four rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
 
Kennedy Middleton had a solid all-around game, tallying seven points, seven rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals. Fellow starters Deleah Gibson and Daeja Quick registered six points apiece with Quick also dishing out four assists, blocking two shots and making two steals.
 
Kaylin Venick rounded out The Rock's top performers with five points.
 
The Rock and Golden Bears traded six-point runs in the first quarter leading to an eventual 15-14 SRU lead through 10 minutes. Curd and Quick combined to score 13 points in the first quarter while Kutztown committed 10 turnovers.
 
SRU stretched its lead out to as many as nine points three minutes into the second quarter before Kutztown rallied back to cut The Rock's lead down to just one point at 25-24 late in the half. The Rock closed the quarter strong with a 7-1 run that saw three players each score points for Slippery Rock to give the Green and White a 32-25 halftime lead.
 
However, Kutztown came out the halftime break to score 11 of the first 15 points in the third quarter to pull even with The Rock at 36-36 going into the media timeout (4:26). A transition layup off of an SRU turnover out of the timeout gave KU its first lead since the first minute of regulation at 38-36.
 
Slippery Rock was unable to re-group from the run as Kutztown went on to hold The Rock scoreless for the final 7:41 of the period, taking a decisive 51-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Rock cut the Golden Bears' lead to 11 points once in the fourth, but was unable to further trim the deficit as KU closed out the 62-47 win.
 
Slippery Rock concluded the night shooting 28.3 percent (17-of-60) from the field overall, 14.3 percent (4-of-28) from 3-point range while making the most its limited free throw attempts by making 9-of-12 shots. SRU forced Kutztown into 21 turnovers while scoring just under half (20) of its total points off Kutztown miscues.
 
The Golden Bears shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53) overall, just 25.3 percent (5-of-20) from 3-point range and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) at the foul line. KU finished the day holding a +9 (43-34) advantage in rebounding.
 
Slippery Rock closes out the weekend with another PSAC crossover contest 1 p.m. Sunday when it hosts West Chester University at Morrow Field House.




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