SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio. –  The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team never trailed Notre Dame College on the way to a 76-63 victory Wednesday in South Euclid, Ohio.
 
Slippery Rock picks up its second straight victory to improve to 2-1 overall while the loss moves Notre Dame to 0-3 on the year.
 
Kennedy Middleton tallied her second consecutive double-double, by way of 17 points and 16 rebounds all the while dishing out four assists, making two steals and blocking one shot, while Deleah Gibson scored a game-high 25 points and Isabellah Middleton chipped in a career-high 23 points to lead the way for the SRU offense.
 
Isabellah Middleton tallied eight rebounds while The Rock's offensive leaders were rounded out by Kelley McKnight (6 points, 5 rebounds), Alyssa Gillin (3 points, 2 rebounds) and Arianna Mitchell (2 points, 2 rebounds).
 
SRU led NDC by as many as 12 (26-14) over the first half and extended its lead to double-digits two separate times before ultimately taking a 43-33 advantage into the halftime break.
 
Slippery Rock finished the first half shooting an impressive 17-for-26 (65.4) from the floor. The trio of Gibson, Isabellah Middleton and Kennedy Middleton combined for 37 of The Rock's 43 points entering the third quarter.
 
The Falcons put up a second-half battle, cutting the Slippery Rock lead to as little as one in the final two minutes of the third quarter. However, Gibson hit a jumper with nine seconds remaining in the quarter to give SRU a slight four-point lead (57-53) entering the final 10 minutes of play.
 
The Rock never relinquished their lead over the final quarter of the contest as they went on to widen the deficit by as many as 14 points (73-59) with less than two minutes to play. A made 3-pointer by Gillin with eight seconds remaining in the game sealed The Rock's first double-digit win of the season.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock shot a season-high 49.2 percent (30-of-61) from the floor, 36.8 percent (7-of-19) from 3-point range and 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from the foul line.
 
The Rock held a solid 43-36 advantage over Notre Dame in rebounds while leading 24-12 in points off turnovers and 16-14 in second chance points.
 
The Falcons ended the game shooting 36.9 (24-of-65) percent from the floor, 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from long range and 50 percent (9-of-18) from the foul line. Alana Ellis led NDC with a team-high 15 points and six rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock ends its four-game road trip when it travels to Ursuline College for a non-conference game 2 p.m. Saturday in Pepper Pike, Ohio.








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