COMPLETE GAME NOTES
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Eight days since its exhibition game at Division I Wright State University, the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team will get back onto the court by traveling to Malone University 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
 
The Rock enter with an 0-1 overall record after falling to Ursuline College in their home opener, 70-46. SRU will be Malone's third Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opponent and sixth matchup of the year, as the Pioneers carry an overall record of 2-3.

GAME 2 OF 25
Opponent: Malone
Date: Tuesday – 5:30 p.m.
Location: Canton, Ohio
Venue: Osborne Hall
Live Video: Great Midwest Digital Network
Live Stats: Malone Sports Information
In-game Updates: X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: 5-3, Slippery Rock
Last Played: Nov. 23, 2022 – Slippery Rock won, 60-58

SERIES HISTORY vs. MALONE
Tuesday will mark the ninth all-time meeting between The Rock and the Pioneers, a series that dates back to 1982. Slippery Rock holds a 5-3 advantage over Malone, winning the last pair of games. While on the road, SRU is 1-3 against Malone, falling in one-possession deficits in each of the three losses.

LAST MEETING
Slippery Rock defeated Malone Nov. 23, 2022 at home, 60-58. Current SRU graduate assistant Deleah Gibson led the offense with 17 points, bolstering the defensive effort with five steals. Slippery Rock shot 37.5 percent from the floor (24-of-64), cashing in with a big 22-point third quarter that saw the Green and White convert 4-of-5 3-point attempts.
 
THE ROCK BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 0-1
Home Record: 0-1
Away Record: 0-0
Streak: L1
Head Coach: Ryenn Micaletti | First season at SRU (0-1)

LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock fell in its second exhibition game of the season to Horizon League members Wright State, 82-45, Nov. 20 on the road.
 
Regan Atkins impressed with 16 points and five rebounds, while both Kristina Donza and Endya Robinson reached double-digits by scoring 10 points apiece.
 
While the team shot 16-of-52 (30.8 percent) as a whole, Atkins led the squad by going 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) from the floor.
 
EARLY IMPRESSIONS
Atkins, a true freshman, has risen to the occasion offensively, totaling 13 points in the season-opener versus Ursuline and posting 16 in the exhibition at Wright State. Atkins also reeled in a team-high seven rebounds against Ursuline, coupled with five more against Wright State.
 
Robinson, a junior transfer from John A. Logan College, tallied five points in her Slippery Rock debut, shining under the spotlight at Wright State with four steals and six rebounds to go along with her 10 points.
 
A NEW ERA OF ROCK BASKETBALL
The 2023-24 season marks a new era of Slippery Rock University women's basketball as head coach Ryenn Micaletti enters her first season in charge of the program. Micaletti was officially hired as the 17th head coach in program history on May 12, 2023.
 
Micaletti, a former SRU assistant coach from 2013-16, embarks on her first head coaching assignment boasting 12 years of collegiate experience - including seven years at the Division I level with the U.S. Navy Academy, Longwood University and St. Louis University.
 
A proven winner, teams with Micaletti on their coaching staffs has compiled an overall record of 209-156 with 11 postseason appearances and four conference titles.
 
Most recently, Micaletti served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at St. Louis University where she helped to quickly turn the program around as the Billikens won their first Atlantic 10 Tournament title and earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
 
Micaletti is also uniquely familiar with Division II basketball and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in particular, having spent time both as a player and as a coach in the PSAC Western Division. In addition to being an alumna, and student-athlete, at Seton Hill University, Micaletti was also formerly an assistant at both The Rock and Indiana University (Pa.).

VENICK NAMED CAPTAIN FOR 2023-24
Junior guard Kaylin Venick will serve as The Rock's lone captain for the 2023-24 season, head coach Micaletti recently announced. One of the most experienced returners on the team, Venick is a veteran of 53 career games played in a Rock uniform.
 
A season ago, Venick started 22 of 27 games played and averaged 2.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and just under an one assist and one steal per game over 20.6 minutes a contest.

A FULL SEASON OF DONZA
After being limited to just seven games in her first full season with The Rock a year ago, junior guard Donza is now fully healthy. A transfer from the United States Naval Academy where she started 20 of 41 games between 2020 and 2022,
 
Donza averaged 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game while converting six of her 10 3-point attempts over her final two appearances for The Rock last year against Shepherd and Shippensburg.
 
VETERANS IN THE FRONT COURT
Three of The Rock's returners from a year ago come up front in the form of forwards Kelley McKnight, Hallie Raabe and Alyssa Gillin.
 
• No Rock player has played more collegiate games for SRU than McKnight. Over the first two seasons of her collegiate career the junior has taken the court in 54 games. McKnight set career-highs in virtually every statistical category a season ago including scoring (3.4 ppg), rebounds (3.4 rpg), blocks (3), minutes (15.1 mpg), field goal percentage (.356) and free throw percentage (.833).
 
• Raabe returns after redshirting a year ago. As a freshman in 2021-22 she appeared in 11 games with one start.
 
• Gillin enjoyed a solid rookie year for The Rock in which she played in 21 games, scored 3.1 points per game while pulling in 2.1 rebounds a night and ranking second on the team in total blocks (10).
 
ROUNDING OUT THE RETURNERS
Rounding out the returners is the guard trio of junior Emily Venick, sophomore Tori Johnson and sophomore Deryn Moye.
 
• Along with McKnight and her sister Kaylin, Venick is one of the few members of the roster that have logged extensive minutes on the Division II level as the Rices Landing, Pennsylvania native has played in 47 games for SRU, 26 of which came a year ago and included 13 starts.
 
• Johnson will look to earn an extended role as a sophomore following a freshman year in which she played in five games.
 
• Moye was with the program a year ago, but not rostered.
 
FRESHMEN ORIENTATION
As part of her first recruiting class at Slippery Rock, head coach Micaletti brought in four true freshmen who will be making their collegiate debuts this season in guard Atkins, guard Sophia Hook, forward Hannah Artley and guard Anye Washington.
 
• Artley, whose father Rick played quarterback for The Rock in two games against Youngstown State in 1995 and 1996, comes to SRU from River Valley High School where the Blairsville, Pennsylvania native was a two-time All-Heritage Conference honoree.
 
• Atkins, a local product from Laurel High School, enjoyed a stellar prep career that saw her score over 1,000 points to break the Laurel school record while being chosen as a four-time All-WPIAL honoree.
 
• Hook was a 1,500-point scorer in high school at Brookfield where she was named the 2022-23 Trumbull County Player of the Year all the while earning multiple All-Ohio accolades and being tabbed a two-time Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Athlete of the Year.
 
• Washington graduated MaST Community Charter in Philadelphia as the school's all-time leader in steals and having scored 1,200 points to earn Bicentennial League MVP honors twice while being a four-time first team all-division selection.
 
A FULL COMPLIMENT OF HELP
One thing head coach Micaletti won't be this season is lonely as the first-year head coach has assembled an extensive staff to help in guiding the program in 2023-24. Joining Micaletti on the sidelines this year is lead assistant Christian Harbaugh, volunteer assistant Courtney Haines and graduate assistant Gibson.
 
• Harbaugh moves back over to the women's game after being the top assistant on the Butler County Community College men's team that went 20-4 and finished 2022-23 ranked seventh in NJCAA.
 
• A former All-American at Penn State Fayette, Haines comes to SRU following two years as an assistant coach at West Virginia Wesleyan.
 
• Gibson embarks on her first season as a collegiate coach following a great playing career that included stops at both Youngstown State and The Rock. After appearing in 55 games over two years for the Penguins, Gibson transferred to Slippery Rock for the remainder of her career where she starred as a two-year starter and All-PSAC West athlete.
 
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
A native of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, junior guard Duda Raimundo is just the sixth international athlete to play for The Rock in program history. Alex Beatty of Canada was the last international student to play for The Rock in 2009-11. Prior to that, Slippery Rock's roster featured student-athletes from Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland and Serbia, at different times from 2000-06.
 
THE PIONEERS BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 2-3
Home Record: 2-1
Away Record: 0-2
Last Five Games: 2-3
Streak: W1
Head Coach: Selana Reale | Sixth season at Malone (81-62, .566)

MALONE SCOUTING REPORT
The Pioneers have begun their 2023-24 circuit by going 2-3, bookended by victories over the University of Indianapolis and NAIA Point Park University. Malone's trio of losses came to Wayne State University, as well as PSAC members Pitt-Johnstown and Seton Hill University.
 
Coming off the bench for two of the five games that she has appeared in, sophomore Erin Kaufman has led Malone by averaging a double-double with 15.8 points and 11 rebounds per game.
 
Fellow sophomore Aila Miller has joined her in the double-digits, averaging 13 points per game. Malone has also found aid from Nataley Armstrong, averaging a team-best 3.4 assists per contest.
 
As a collective unit, the Pioneers have shot 35.8 percent from the floor this season, making 30.4 percent of 3-point attempts. They also boast a rebounding margin of +7, not having been outboarded by any opponent this season.
 
The Pioneers, who play out of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, went 21-10 overall last season, falling in both the G-MAC Semifinals and the first round of the NCAA Tournament to eventual Division II National Champions Ashland University in both games.

LOOKING AHEAD
Slippery Rock enters PSAC competition by traveling across the Keystone State to face off with West Chester University 3 p.m. Friday and Millersville University 1 p.m. Saturday. SRU defeated the Golden Rams of West Chester at home in 2021, 57-56. SRU last saw the Millersville Marauders in 2022, falling on the road in a 76-66 overtime decision.
 
 

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