SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team battled Malone University to a 60-58 victory in its home-opener to extend its winning-streak to four games Wednesday at Morrow Field House.
 
With the win, Slippery Rock improves its record to 4-1 overall on the year while the loss moves Malone to 3-2 overall.
 
The Rock's efforts were led by the senior duo of Deleah Gibson and Kennedy Middleton. Gibson ended the contest with a team-high 17 points while completing her stat line with five steals, three rebounds, two blocks and one assist. Kennedy Middleton compiled her fourth consecutive double-double, tallying 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists and one steal.
 
Isabellah Middleton did a little bit of everything to help power SRU to its win as she ended the contest with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
 
Rounding out The Rock's point scorers were Kristina Donza (5 points), Alyssa Gillin (3 points), Jordan Kauffman (3 points), Kelley McKnight (2 points) and Emily Venick (2 points).
 
Wednesday's game was a back-and-forth contest throughout with four lead changes and seven ties. Neither team led by more than seven points for the duration of the contest in addition to neither team holding its lead for longer than four consecutive minutes at a time.
 
Capped off by a made jumper from McKnight, Slippery Rock jumped out to a 9-4 lead to force Malone into a timeout with 4:58 remaining in the first quarter. The Pioneers answered the early surge by going on a 11-4 run of their own over the remainder of the opening quarter to take a two-point advantage (15-13) into the second quarter.
 
From that point it was anyone's game to win as the two evenly matched teams traded baskets and brief runs over the next two quarters including tying the contest five times. A made 3-pointer by Gibson with 46 seconds left in the third quarter helped maintain a four-point (49-45) SRU lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
Malone continued its fight for the win as it narrowly outscored Slippery Rock 13-11 in the fourth quarter. However, a made foul shot and steal with under five seconds left on the clock sealed the 60-58 Rock victory.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock shot 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the floor, 28.0 percent (7-of-25) from long range and 55.6 percent (5-of-29) from the charity stripe.
 
The Rock held a 15-12 advantage over the Pioneers in points off turnovers while MU outrebounded SRU 41-40. Each team committed 17 turnovers.
 
Malone ended the game shooting 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from the floor, 18.2 percent (4-of-22) from 3-point range and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the foul line. Alexis Hutchison finished the night with a game-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
 
Slippery Rock remains home to face non-conference opponent Fairmont State University 1 p.m. Sunday at Morrow Field House.








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