INDIANA, Pa. - Bella Long scored a career-high 24 points to power the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team to a 79-75 win over Davis & Elkins College Saturday at the PSAC/MEC/CIAA Challenge in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
 
The win improves The Rock's overall record to 1-1 to start the 2022-23 season while Davis & Elkins moves to an 0-2 record overall.
 
Slippery Rock's offensive efforts were led by Long and Isabellah Middleton and Kennedy Middleton. Long tallied a game-high 24 points along with five rebounds while Isabellah and Kennedy Middleton each tallied a double-double of 14 points, 12 rebounds and 17 points, 10 rebounds, respectively.
 
Rounding out SRU's leaders were Deleah Gibson (10 points, 2 rebounds), Kelley McKnight (8 points, 8 rebounds), Emily Venick (2 points, 3 rebounds), Kristina Donza (2 points, 2 rebounds) and Alyssa Gillin (2 points, 1 rebound).
 
SRU held a 24-15 lead at the end of the first quarter before the Senators cut The Rock's edge to five points at 35-30 heading into halftime. While D&E was able to keep the contest close in the second half, Slippery Rock was ultimately able to hold on for a 79-75 win.
 
As a team, The Rock shot 38.5 percent (25-of-65) from the floor overall, 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from 3-point range and 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from the foul line. SRU held advantages over Davis & Elkins in second chance points (16-10) and fast break points (7-1).
 
SRU forced Davis & Elkins into 25 turnovers while making 22 miscues of its own in addition to each team grabbing 46 rebounds.
 
Taylor Smith led the D&E offense with 20 points and four rebounds while as a team the Senators ended the contest shooting 42.5 percent (31-of-73) from the field overall, 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from long range and 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the charity stripe.
 
Slippery Rock continues non-conference competition with a road game against Notre Dame College 5:30 p.m. Nov. 16 in South Euclid, Ohio.








To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).