CANTON, Ohio – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team fell to Malone University, 74-57, in its first away game of the regular season Tuesday night.
 
The Rock fell to 0-2 to start the year, while the Pioneers put together their first back-to-back wins of the year, improving to an even 3-3.
 
Improving upon the 13 points she posted in her SRU debut against Ursuline College, Regan Atkins led The Rock once again with 19. Shooting 8-of-15 from the floor, the true freshman also contributed three rebounds.
 
Posting a trio of 3-pointers for just the third time in her career, Kristina Donza aided SRU offensively with 14 points. Her team-high two steals helped lend The Rock 10 points off Malone's 14 turnovers.
 
Both Endya Robinson and Kaylin Venick put up four points and a team-best five rebounds. Robinson led Slippery Rock with three assists while Venick gave The Rock their first block of the season.
 
Going 3-of-7 from the floor including 2-of-5 from 3-point range, Gabby Jackson checked in with her first career points for Slippery Rock by putting nine on the scoreboard.
 
SRU found itself with an early advantage, outscoring the Pioneers in the opening frame, 17-14. Six different Slippery Rock players scored in the first quarter, a period that saw Robinson pull in four of her five rebounds on the night.
 
Slippery Rock would lose its lead in the second quarter, going into halftime with a 36-30 deficit. Atkins and Donza attributed for 17 of The Rock's points (56.7 percent) in the first half. The second quarter proved to be Malone's best offensively, converting 9-of-15 buckets from the floor (60 percent).
 
SRU was held by the Pioneer defense to just 30.8 percent shooting in the third quarter, seeing the deficit grow to a 52-40 margin. The Rock continued to trek on, but were ultimately outscored in the final quarter, 22-17.
 
Collectively, The Rock shot 22-of-60 (36.7 percent) from the court as opposed to Malone's 28-of-62 (45.2 percent). Slippery Rock both made more and attempted more 3-pointers than Malone, going 7-of-27 (25.9 percent) beyond the arc while the Pioneers hit 6-of-21 (28.6 percent).
 
Malone made the most of its trips to the free throw line, converting 12-of-14 (85.7 percent). The Rock went 6-of-10 (60 percent) from the stripe. Despite just 10 second chance points, the Pioneers outrebounded their opponents for the fifth time this season, holding a +22 margin over The Rock.
 
Slippery Rock enters Pennsylvania State Athletic Competition by traveling across the Keystone State to face off with No. 13 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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