PEPPER PIKE, Ohio. - After trailing for 38 minutes, the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team stretched its winning streak to three games in a hard-fought 66-64 victory over Ursuline College Saturday on the road.
 
With the win, Slippery Rock improves its record to 3-1 overall while Ursuline drops to 2-2 on the year. Slippery Rock has now produced back-to-back seasons with a winning record through its opening four contests.
 
A trio of SRU players scored double-digit points to aid in its comeback campaign. Kennedy Middleton collected her third straight double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Isabellah Middleton recorded her third consecutive game with at least 20 points as she tallied a game-high 23 with three rebounds. Deleah Gibson ended the contest with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
Additional point scorers for The Rock included Jada Ward (7 points), Jordan Kauffman (3 points), Alyssa Gillin (2 points), Kelley McKnight (2 points) and Kaylin Venick (2 points).
 
Slippery Rock trailed Ursuline for most of the contest with the Arrows going on a 12-3 run with 5:56 minutes left in the first quarter leading to an eventual 20-11 advantage for Ursuline heading into the second quarter.
 
SRU went on a 7-0 run in the opening minutes of the second quarter to cut the UC lead to just three points (25-22) before The Rock and Arrows traded baskets for the remainder of the second as Slippery Rock outscored Ursuline 18-13 to cut its deficit to 33-29 at the half.
 
Coming out of the halftime break, the Arrows extended their lead to nine points (30-39) before ensuing in another back-and-forth battle with The Rock, with Ursuline never allowing its lead to drop lower than four points over the remainder of the third.
 
Ursuline dominated the first 3:06 minutes of the final quarter, claiming another nine-point lead (56-47) over Slippery Rock. However, a made 3-pointer by Gibson with 6:29 remaining would ignite a 16-6 run for The Rock before a made jumper by Ward claimed their first lead of the game with just 27 seconds remaining.
 
Slippery Rock was able to make three of its final four foul shots of the contest to seal the 66-62 comeback victory over Ursuline.
 
As a team, The Rock shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the floor overall, 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from 3-point range and 80 percent (12-of-15) from the foul line.
Ursuline out rebounded Slippery Rock 35-27 while forcing SRU into 14 turnovers and making just 11 miscues of its own.
 
The Arrows ended the game shooting 36.9 percent (24-of-65) from the floor, 25 percent (6-of-24) from 3-point range and 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the foul line. Madison Cloonan tallied a double-double of 16 points, 18 rebounds while Alyssa Evans scored a team-high 17 points.
 
Slippery Rock returns from its road-trip to host Malone University for its home-opener 1 p.m. Nov. 23 at Morrow Field House.










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