SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – After a week off for the holiday break, the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team returns to competition with a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover contest 5:30 p.m. Friday at East Stroudsburg University.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live video and in-game statistics will be provided for Friday's game by the East Stroudsburg Athletic Communication office at the links below.
 
GAME 11 DETAILS
Opponent: East Stroudsburg University
Date: Friday – 5:30 p.m.
Location: Koehler Field House
Live Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: SRU leads 15-8
Last Played: Nov. 24, 2021 (Rock won 73-60)
 
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. EAST STROUDSBURG
The Rock holds a strong 15-8 lead over the Warriors in the all-time series dating back to 1929. SRU is 5-3 when traveling to East Stroudsburg and is currently on a three-game winning streak overall against ESU.
 
LAST MEETING
Slippery Rock jumped out to a 39-19 halftime lead and led wire-to-wire in a 73-60 victory over East Stroudsburg Nov. 24, 2021 at Morrow Field House. Daeja Quick paced The Rock offense with 20 points, six assists, five steals, three rebounds and just one turnover while Jamiyah Johnson added a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds to go along with four blocks and three steals.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
Overall Record: 8-2
PSAC West Record: 3-1
PSAC West Standings: Tied for second
Home Record: 4-0
Away Record: 3-1
Neutral Record: 1-1
Last Five Games: 4-1
Streak: W2
Acting Head Coach: Chenara Wilson | First year at SRU (8-2)
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock tied its largest winning margin of the season with a 16-point victory (62-46) over Bloomsburg University Dec. 19 at Morrow Field. House. SRU held BU to only 16 second half points making its first time doing so since Nov. 24, 2014 against Penn State Greater Allegheny
 
WILSON IN THE WIN COLUMN
Acting Head Coach Chenara Wilson continues to compile a solid first-year showing leading the team as she moves her way up the list of wins by a head coach in their first year at SRU. After going 2-0 against Mansfield University and Bloomsburg University, Wilson currently is tied for ninth with Marianna Chase (1919-20) with eight wins.
 
CRUSHING THE CROSSOVER
The Rock continues to find success through the crossover portion of their schedule. Since the 2014-15 season, SRU is now 25-17 (.595) against its Eastern Division competitors.

STRONG SEASON START
Slippery Rock has produced an impressive 8-2 record overall to open the 2022-23 season. SRU's two losses over its first 10 contest is the first record of such since the 1999-00 team suffered only one loss through its first 14 games.
 
TOUGH ON THE ROAD
SRU has suffered just one loss in true road contests this season at Shippensburg University. It's second loss happened in a neutral site meeting on the campus of Indiana University (Pa.) against Lincoln University. The last time that Slippery Rock suffered only one true road loss through its first 10 games was the 2009-10 season.
 
DYNAMIC DUO
Slippery Rock's offensive attack is led by one of the top scoring duos throughout the whole 18-team PSAC in Isabellah Middleton and Kennedy Middleton who combine to average 33.3 points per game.
 
Top Scoring Duos in the PSAC
1: Ariel Jones, Treasure George (Shippensburg): 34.9
2: Rana Elhusseini, Hayley Sims (Edinboro): 34.7
3: Dejah Terrell, Ciaira Loyd (California): 33.7
4: Isabellah Middleton, Kennedy Middleton (ROCK): 33.3
5: Emily McAteer, Anna McTamney (West Chester): 32.4
 
THE ROCK ROTATION
The Rock has had 12 players make an appearance in at least six of its first 10 games this season in Kelley McKnight (10), Isabellah Middleton (10), Kennedy Middleotn (10), Emily Venick (10), Jada Ward (10), Kaylin Venick (9), Alyssa Gillin (8), Kristina Donza (7), Arianna Mitchell (7), Deleah Gibson (6), Jordan Kauffman (6) and Bella Long (6).
 
· Isabellah Middleton leads the way with 19.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.7 assists per game. Middleton poses as one of The Rock's top offensive threats as she has tallied six 20-point performances already this season while shooting 41.3 percent from the floor.
 
· Kennedy Middleton proves to be one of SRU's most versatile players as she tallies per game averages of 14.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 44.3 from the field. Middleton has a strong offensive and defensive presence as she has tallied five double-doubles on the year.
 
· Joining the Middleton's as SRU's leading scorers is senior Deleah Gibson, who averages 18.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.8 apg and 1.8 steals per game while shooting team-highs of 47 percent from the floor overall and 83.3 percent from the foul line.
 
· McKnight, Slippery Rock's starting center, enters the weekend with a stat line of 3.2 ppg and 3.9 rpg while shooting a team high 87.5 from the foul line.
 
· Emily Venick claims her role as The Rock's starting point guard averaging 2.1 assists per game and having committed only eight turnovers this season while posting five games with no miscues at all.
 
· Trusted reserve to Emily Venick is Ward, a freshman guard, who averages 5.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg and 1.6 apg. After scoring just 11 points in her first five games, Ward has stepped up as of late totaling 40 points in SRU's most recent five contests.
 
· Kaylin Venick and Gillin provide The Rock with solid minutes off the bench with 2.4 and 2.1 ppg respectively while each tallying 1.3 rpg.
 
· Donza has settled into SRU's rotation as of late. After scoring just 14 points over Slippery Rock's first four contests, Donza tallied back-to-back double-digit performances with a career-high 17 points against Shepherd and 11 points at Shippensburg.
 
Donza enters the weekend averaging 6.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 41 percent from the floor overall and 41.2 percent from long range.
 
· Mitchell is a solid backup center to McKnight who in seven appearances has the team's third highest rebounding average of 4.4 rpg to go along with 2.0 ppg.
 
· Long serves as one of The Rock's top long ball threats as she shoots a team-high 42.4 percent from 3-point range in addition to averaging 10.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg and 1.0 apg.
 
· Kauffman rounds out the Slippery Rock rotation as she comes off the bench to average 1.8 ppg and 1.7 rpg while shooting 80 percent from the free throw line.
 
PACING THE PSAC
As a team, SRU enters the weekend ranking among the top 10 in the PSAC in seven categories while individually two players rank in the top 10 in at least one category as well.
 
PSAC Team Rankings
• Opponent 3-Point Percentage: 4th (.280)
• 3-point Percentage: 5th (.321)
• Points Per Game: 7th (70.8)
• Field Goal Percentage: 7th (.404)
• Defensive Rebounds Per Game: t-7th (27.3)
• 3-pointers Per Game: 8th (6.8)
• Rebounds Per Game: 8th (39.6)
 
PSAC Individual Rankings
• Points Per Game: Isabellah Middleton – 3rd (19.1)
• Rebounds Per Game: Kennedy Middleton – 7th (8.7)
• 3-Point Percentage: Isabellah Middleton – 7th (.385)
• Steals Per Game: Isabellah Middleton – 7th (2.2)
• Rebounds Per Game: Isabellah Middleton – t-8th (8.1)
 
PREVIOUSLY vs. EAST STROUDSBURG
Isabellah Middleton – 1 game: 11 points, 1 rebound
Kennedy Middleton – 1 game: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Bella Long – 1 game: 3 points
Deleah Gibson – 1 game: 2 points, 2 assists, 1 block
Kelley McKnight – 1 game: 1 rebound
 
EAST STROUDSBURG PRIMER
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
Overall Record: 6-4
PSAC East Record: 2-2
PSAC East Standings: Tied for third
Home Record: 3-1
Away Record: 1-3
Neutral Record: 2-0
Last Five Games: 2-3
Streak: L3
Head Coach: Stephanie Del Preore | Fourth year at ESU (30-35)
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Last time out: East Stroudsburg suffered its third consecutive loss in a 69-50 decision to California (Pa.) on the road Dec. 19.
 
As a team, the Warriors average 59.3 ppg and 33.2 rpg while shooting 39.3 percent from the floor overall, 43.9 percent from long range and 58.1 percent from the foul line.
 
Pacing ESU on both ends of the floor is Ryan Weise who averages team-highs of 19.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 6.0 apg and 2.0 spg. Aiding in the Warriors scoring efforts is Shyla Sanford with 7.7 ppg.
 
In last year's game between Slippery Rock and East Stroudsburg, Weise tallied 10 points at three steals while shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul line.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock begins divisional competition when it hosts Gannon University 5:30 p.m. Jan. 4 at Morrow Field House.








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