SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team suffered a 67-58 home loss to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division member Indiana University (Pa.) Saturday at Morrow Field House.
 
With the loss, The Rock's record moves to 10-9 overall and 5-8 in the PSAC while IUP improves to 15-5 overall and 9-5 in the conference.
 
SRU was led by Deleah Gibson who scored a team-high 17 points to go along with two rebounds and three assists. The Rock's remaining double-digit scorer was Kennedy Middleton with 12 points in addition to adding five rebounds, two steals and one assist.
 
Rounding out Slippery Rock's leaders were Daeja Quick with nine points, eight assists, two rebounds, two steals and one block. Anyah Curd tallied nine points, four rebounds, three blocks and one assist. Jamiyah Johnson ended the contest with a game-high 17 rebounds as well as having seven points, one assist and one steal.
 
The Rock and IUP kept it close in the opening 20 minutes as neither team led by more than seven points before Indiana went on a 10-4 run to close out the period leading 30-23 at halftime.
 
Out of the break, Slippery Rock opened the third quarter on a 14-9 run cutting the Crimson Hawk lead down to just three with 3:59 left to play. However, IUP retook the reigns ending the third with a 49-39 advantage.
 
The Rock made a final comeback effort as Gibson spearheaded the charge by scoring 14 of SRU's 19 points in the fourth as The Rock cut what was a 17-point deficit with 5:31 left to play to just six points at 64-58 with 50 second remaining.
 
Despite the change in momentum, Slippery Rock was unable to complete the comeback bid as the Crimson Hawks extended its lead to nine thanks to four consecutive foul shots in the final minute en route to a 67-58 victory.
 
Slippery Rock concluded the contest shooting 35.4 percent (23-of-65) from the floor, 25.8 percent (8-of-31) from long range and 80 percent (4-of-5) from the foul line. Despite the loss, The Rock committed a season-low 10 turnovers. While Slippery Rock was outrebounded 42-38 overall its 15 offensive rebounds were the highest in its last eight games.
 
As a team, the Crimson Hawks shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) overall, 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from 3-point range and 75 percent (9-of-12) from the charity stripe. IUP committed just eight miscues for the game while holding advantages in points in the paint (38-24), second chance points (14-13), and bench scoring (16-5).
 
The Rock remains home for another PSAC West test against division leader Seton Hill University 5:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at Morrow Field House.




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