Complete Game Notes 

GAME PROGRAM INFO
Slippery Rock has moved away from printed game programs for all sports in 2022-23. This page will serve as the "Digital Game Program" for this week's game. To navigate to all gameday info for any SRU home events this year, simply visit rockathletics.com/gameday or scan the QR code on the "Gameday Info" posters hanging in each facility.
 

Slippery Rock vs. California (Pa.)
The Rock (8-4, 3-3)	Vulcans (8-4, 4-2)
Roster	Roster
Schedule	Schedule
Statistics	Statistics
Coach Chenara Wilson	Coach Jess Strom
Program Records	Program Records
Morrow Field House
PSAC Standings
PSAC Leaders
PSAC Schedule
Game Notes
Purchase Tickets

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team will look to snap a two-game losing streak with a win over Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division opponent California (Pa.) 1 p.m. Saturday at Morrow Field House.
 
TICKET PRICES
Fans are encouraged to purchase advance tickets online HERE.
Adult General Admission - $10.00
Visiting PSAC Student with ID - $5.00
Age 6 to High School - $5.00
Under 6 Years Old - FREE
*Alumni Discount with Current Alumni Membership Card $2.00 off General Admission Only
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV - "ROCK ATHLETICS DIGITAL NETWORK" APPS
• Fans can watch Saturday's game live and on-demand for free on the Rock Athletics Digital Network, created and operated by the SRU athletic communication office.
 
• Search for Rock Athletics Digital Network in the app stores on Amazon Fire TV, Apple RV, Roku and Android TV devices. The streaming web player linked above will also integrate with Chrome Cast devices to allow viewers to cast the game to those devices.

ROCK ATHLETIC CLUB GAME
Slippery Rock welcomes the members of the Rock Athletic Club to Morrow Field House Saturday to enjoy the doubleheader action. 
 
GAME 13 DETAILS
Opponent: California (Pa.)
Date: Saturday – 1 p.m.
Location: Morrow Field House
Live Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: Cal leads 62-40-1
Last Played: Feb. 21, 2022 (Vulcans won 62-45)
 
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. CALIFORNIA
The Vulcans hold a 62-40-1 lead over The Rock in the all-time series dating back to 1921-22. Slippery Rock will look to break a four-game losing streak against California with SRU's last win over Cal being a 72-61 victory Feb. 2, 2019 at Morrow Field House.
 
LAST MEETING
Jamiyah Johnson broke the SRU women's basketball single-season rebounding record in a 62-45 loss on the road at California (Pa.) Feb. 21, 2022. Johnson led The Rock's efforts with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
Overall Record: 8-4
PSAC West Record: 3-2
PSAC West Standings: Tied for sixth
Home Record: 4-1
Away Record: 3-2
Neutral Record: 1-1
Last Five Games: 2-3
Streak: L2
Acting Head Coach: Chenara Wilson | First year at SRU (8-4)
 
LAST TIME OUT
After being held to just three points in the first quarter, Slippery Rock cut a 24-point deficit to just seven, but was unable to complete its comeback bid as it fell 75-59 to No. 23 Gannon University Wednesday at Morrow Field House.
 
Isabellah Middleton paced the Slippery Rock offense with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds, five steals and two assists. Kennedy Middleton added a double-double performance, her seventh such of the season, with 15 points and 12 rebounds while Deleah Gibson chipped in 11 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.
 
SHARP SHOOTING
Prior to its most recent two games, Slippery Rock had found its stride from the floor as it tallied three consecutive games in which it shot at least 40 percent from the field. SRU shot 41.5 percent at Shippensburg University before recording back-to-back games with its second highest shooting percentage of the season of 42.6 percent against both Mansfield University and Bloomsburg University.
 
CLUTCH FREE THROW SHOOTING
Despite its loss to the Golden Knights, The Rock exhibited its third best free throw shooting performances when they went 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the charity stripe.
 
For the season, SRU is led by a trio of players shooting an identical 83.3 percent from the foul line in Gibson (25-of-30), Bella Long (10-of-12) and Kelley McKnight (10-of-12). Isabellah Middleton leads the team in made free throws with 27 while Kennedy Middleton ranks second at 26.
 
STEALING THE ROCK
SRU continues to show its solid defensive efforts as it has now posted back-to-back games with double-digit steals. The Rock made 11 at East Stroudsburg University before securing the team's second highest amount for the season of 13 against Gannon.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock averages the fifth most steals per game in the conference (9.6) and is led in takeaways by Isabellah Middleton (2.5), Gibson (2.0), Kennedy Middleton (1.4) and Kaylin Venick (1.0).
 
COMEBACK CAMPAIGN
Slippery Rock has shown its second-half dominance over the season including holding a 3-3 record in contest in which it was losing at the halftime break. SRU has powered back from a first half deficit to end up victorious against Ursuline College (66-62), Mansfield (69-60) and Bloomsburg (62-46).
 
Additionally, The Rock has outscored its opponents by a +16 margin (431-415) over the second half of action and more specifically claims a +41 scoring margin (199-158) in second half contests at Morrow Field House.
 
CONFERENCE CONTENDERS
The Rock currently hold an even 3-3 record in PSAC competition heading into the middle portion of the season. If Slippery Rock were to remain at .500 it would be its conference record of .500 or better since the 2008-09 roster that ended the season 5-5 in the PSAC.
 
Slippery Rock will look to return to its winning ways in order to secure its first winning conference record since 2001-02 of 8-4.
 
THIRD QUARTER THRILLER
SRU compiled one of its best third quarter performances against the Golden Knights Wednesday at Morrow Field House. After trailing by as many as 24 points in the first half, Slippery Rock rallied to outscore Gannon 28-15 in the third quarter to tie the team for 10th in program history for most points in a quarter.
 
Kennedy Middleton helped to spearhead the scoring surge as she tallied 42.9 percent (12-of-28) of SRU's third quarter points.
 
TOUGH AT HOME
Slippery Rock still claims a solid record at Morrow Field House of 4-1 entering Saturday's home contest. At Morrow Field House SRU averages 67.2 points, 40.8 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 10.2 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 39.6 percent from the floor.
 
The trio of Gibson, Isabellah Middleton and Kennedy Middleton lead the way for The Rock on both offense and defense as they combine to average 52.1 ppg and 21.9 rpg when playing at home.
 
SEEING DOUBLE
Kennedy Middleton has proven tough on both ends of the floor for The Rock recording seven double-doubles this season which ranks her tied for 11th in Division II as well as tied for first in the conference in double-doubles.
 
GIBSON FROM DOWNTOWN
Deleah Gibson, in just 32 games at The Rock, is currently only one 3-pointer away from moving into a tie with Alex Beatty (2009-11) for the 25th most career 3-pounters in SRU program history with 52.
 
CONSISTENT STARTERS
SRU has featured a consistent starting line up over its most recent six games in McKnight, Isabellah Middleton, Kennedy Middleton, Emily Venick and Kaylin Venick.
 
Pacing the starters is Isabellah Middleton who averages a team-high 18.0 ppg to go along with 8.3 rpg, 2.5 spg and 1.7 apg. Middleton has had only one game this season where she did not score double-digit points.
 
Kennedy Middleton continues to showcase her versatility with 14.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3.0 apg and 1.4 spg. Middleton also leads The Rock on defense as she collects a team-leading 7.2 defensive rpg.
 
Rounding out the starters are McKnight who has tallied 3.4 ppg and 3.8 rpg, Kaylin Venick with 2.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg and 1.0 spg and Emily Venick with 1.8 apg, 1.3 rpg and 1.2 ppg.
 
ROUNDING OUT THE ROCK ROTATION
Slippery Rock features a short bench midway through the season that includes Gibson, Long and Alyssa Gillin.
 
Gibson enters the weekend averaging 16.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.0 apg and 2.0 steals per game while shooting a team-high 46 percent from the floor.
 
Long, in eight games, holds per game averages of 8.0 points and 2.4 rebounds in addition to shooting the team's second-best average from 3-point range of 41.2 percent.
 
Gillin tallies 2.9 points and 1.3 rebounds per game and is coming off of a career-best game against Gannon in which she recorded nine points, two rebounds, one assist and one block.
 
SRU PROGRAM HISTORY
Isabellah Middleton has tallied six 20-point performances over The Rock's 12 games. She is currently tied for 10th with Daeja Quick since 2002-03 in career 20-point games at SRU. If Middleton were to have another 20-point showing over the weekend she would move into a tie with Jamiyah Johnson and Madison Johnson for eighth with seven 20-point games.
 
Kennedy Middleton has tallied seven double-double performances this season ranking her 10th for The Rock since the 2002-03 season. She is now just one double-double from advancing into a five-way tie for sixth with Erin Frankovich, LeeAnne Gibson, Sasha Sales and Danielle Smith.
 
PREVIOUSLY vs. CALIFORNIA
Kennedy Middleton – 2 games: 6.5 ppg, 7 rpg, 1 apg, 0.5 spg
Deleah Gibson – 2 games: 6.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1 spg
Isabellah Middleton – 1 game: 7 points, 3 rebounds
Bella Long – 2 games: 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 0.5 apg, 0.5 spg
Kelley McKnight – 2 games: 2 ppg, 1 rpg
Kaylin Venick – 2 games: 1 ppg, 1 rpg
Emily Venick – 2 games: 0.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.5 apg
 
CALIFORNIA PRIMER
Overall Record: 8-4
PSAC West Record: 4-2
PSAC West Standings: Tied for fourth
Home Record: 5-0
Away Record: 2-4
Neutral Record: 1-0
Last Five Games: 4-1
Streak: W4
Head Coach: Jess Strom | 11th year at CAL (245-71)
 
SCOUTING THE VULCANS
Last time out: California earned its fourth consecutive win in a 53-43 victory over Clarion Wednesday at the Convocation Center in California, Pennsylvania.
 
As a team, the Vulcans are second in the conference in turnover margin (+5.1), fifth in offensive rpg (14.3) and sixth in rpg (40.4) in addition to scoring 66.3 ppg and shooting 38.1 percent from the floor.
 
California is led by the duo of Rajah Fink and Ciaira Loyd. Fink is currently fifth in all of Division II in offensive rebounds per game (4.6) as well as first in the PSAC in rebounds per game (10.3) and sixth in the conference in field goal percentage (48.3) to go along with averaging 15.3 ppg.
 
Loyd ranks 11th in DII in apg (5.7) while holding per game averages of 13.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.6 steals.
 
A season ago, Loyd averaged 8.5 assists, 6.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals against The Rock through two meetings.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock will begin a two-game road trip with a PSAC West matchup at Seton Hill University 5:30 p.m. Jan 11.







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