SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team will look to extend its winning streak to three games with a key Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division win at Indiana University (Pa.) 1 p.m. Saturday.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live video and in-game statistics will be provided for Saturday's game by the Indiana University (Pa.) Athletic Communication department at the links below.
 
GAME 26 DETAILS
Opponent: Indiana University (Pa.)
Date: Saturday – 1 p.m.
Location: KCAC – Indiana, Pennsylvania
Live Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: IUP leads 61-47
Last Played: Jan. 25, 2023 (Rock won, 52-48)
 
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. INDIANA
The Crimson Hawks hold a 61-47 lead over The Rock in the all-time series dating back to 1921. A win on the road against Indiana would mark Slippery Rock's first victory at IUP since Feb. 23, 2005, when it defeated IUP 64-59.
 
LAST MEETING
Slippery Rock was able to accomplish a feat that no Rock roster has since 2007 when it snapped a 29-game losing streak in the series by defeating the Crimson Hawks 52-48 Jan. 25, 2023, at Morrow Field House.
 
Isabellah Middleton led all scorers for the night with 19 points to go along with nine rebounds, two assists and one steal. Deleah Gibson also ended the game in double figures with 16 points, five rebounds four steals, two blocks and one assist.
 
Kennedy Middleton tallied seven points, six rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block in the win. Kaylin Venick registered four points, two rebounds and two steals.
 
Rounding out SRU's leaders was Jordan Kauffman with three points and two rebounds, Kelley McKnight with two points and four rebounds and Alyssa Gillin with a career-high three blocks and three steals to go with two rebounds and one point courtesy of her clutch foul shot late.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
Overall Record: 14-11
PSAC West Record: 9-10
PSAC West Standings: Eighth
Home Record: 7-4
Away Record: 6-6
Neutral Record: 1-1
Last Five Games: 2-3
Streak: W2
Acting Head Coach: Chenara Wilson | First year at SRU (14-11)
 
LAST TIME OUT
SRU battled back from an early 14-point deficit to defeat Edinboro, 78-63, on the road Feb. 11, 2023. Gibson paced Slippery Rock with her fourth 20-point performance over SRU's last six contest and first career double-double at SRU as she went for 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals.
 
PAINTING THE POST SEASON PICTURE
Slippery Rock continues to make a late-season push towards the PSAC Tournament with an additional win to end last week. The top six teams from the PSAC West at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the conference tournament.
 
Slippery Rock enters the weekend one game behind Mercyhurst for sixth place in the conference standings. If The Rock and Lakers were to finish tied for sixth in the league standings the tiebreaker advantage would go to SRU as it swept Mercyhurst in the regular-season series between the two teams.
 
A win against the Crimson Hawks would pull The Rock closer to the sixth place slot but SRU will need help from around the conference to keep its post season chances alive. In addition to needing favorable results from Mercyhurst, Seton Hill is also a half-game ahead of The Rock in the league standings with a 10-10 conference record.
 
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
For the first time this season, Slippery Rock swept the PSAC West weekly awards with Isabellah Middleton being named the Athlete of the Week and Gibson the Defensive Athlete of the Week.
 
Middleton picked up her third weekly honor of the season after averaging 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 assists per game over three starts.
 
Middleton also ended the week shooting 37.7 percent from the floor, 45.5 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the foul line. She posted two 20-point performances including a career-high 27 points at California (Pa.).
 
Gibson was awarded her second honor of the season. Over three contests, she tallied 19.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 4.3 apg and 3.3 spg while shooting an impressive 48.8 percent from the field, 50 percent from long range and 80 percent from the charity stripe.
 
The defensive highlight of the week for Gibson came in The Rock's upset over Edinboro when she tallied her first career double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds while grabbing a season-high five steals.
 
Through the three-game week the duo combined to register 58.2 precent (124-of-213) of SRU's scoring and 37 percent (47-of-122) of its rebounds while totaling 15 steals and 16 assists.
 
For the season, Middleton averages 16.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.1 spg and 1.3 apg while Gibson registers 16.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.8 apg and 2.6 spg.
 
ROUNDING OUT THE ROCK ROTATION
• Joining Gibson and Isabellah Middleton as Rock players to average double-digit points is Kennedy Middleton with 12.7 in addition to rounding out her versatile stat line with 8.5 rpg, 3.3 apg and 1.8 spg.
 
• Bella Long, in 20 appearances for The Rock, enters the weekend averaging 4.9 ppg and 1.6 rpg while shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 68.4 percent from the foul line.
 
• Jada Ward has flashed signs of great potential as a reserve point guard as the true freshman averages 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals a game. She scored a season-high 17 points at Edinboro.
 
• Kauffman and McKnight each average 3.2 points per game while taking on 2.7 and 3.2 rebounds per game respectively. Both have showed poise when shooting from the free throw line with McKnight shooting 81.3 percent and Kauffman 71.4 percent.
 
• Kaylin Venick claims per game averages of 2.9 ppg and 1.7 rpg while sister Emily Venick tallies 1.0 ppg and 1.0 apg.
 
SEEING DOUBLE
Sister duo, Kennedy Middleton and Isabellah Middleton have totaled 18 double-doubles this season with 10 and eight respectively. In the conference, Kennedy Middleton is tied for third while Isabellah is tied for sixth.
 
DYNAMIC DEFENSIVE DUO
The pair of Gibson and Isabellah Middleton have shown their dominance on defense this season combine for 106 steals putting them fifth on the list of top women's basketball duos at SRU in assists.
 
SHOOTING FOR THE STARS
After a three-game stint of shooting below .400, Slippery Rock was able to register a .420 shooting percentage in its win at Edinboro. For the season, SRU has three players who currently shoot above 40 percent from the field in Gibson (.411), Long (.405) and Kennedy Middleton (.400).
 
WILSON ON NCAA WINS LIST
Acting head coach Chenara Wilson has led The Rock to 14 wins this season. Of the 33 first-year Division II head coaches, only two have more wins than Wilson so far in 2022-23 – one of which being IUP Interim Head Coach Craig Carey.
 
Coach (School): Wins
1. Craig Carey (Indiana (Pa.)): 18
2. Celeste Stewart (Augusta): 16
t3. Chenara Wilson (The Rock): 14
t3. Des Abeyta (Sonoma State): 14
t4. Megan Dzikas (Florida Southern): 13
 
ROCK SOLID FROM THE FOUL LINE
A staple for SRU over the last decade has been its exemplary free throw shooting. Five of the top-10 single-season team free throw shooting percentages have happened within the last eight seasons. Slippery Rock has had only one contest this season shooting below .500 from the foul line.
 
#-Season - Shooting Percentage
1-1997-98 - .774 (429-554)
2-2015-16 - .770 (404-525)
3-2001-02 - .748 (324-433)
4-2016-17 - .747 (440-589)
5-2017-18 - .739 (391-529)
6-1990-91 - .733 (484-660)
7-1999-00 - .732 (431-589)
8-2002-03 - .725 (306-422)
9-2019-20 - .722 (445-616)
10-2014-15 - .721 (391-542)
NR-2022-123 - .719 (271-377)
 
GIBSON GREAT FROM LONG RANGE
Gibson continues to showcase her strength in shooting beyond the arch, and with her five made 3-pointers against Edinboro, she is now tied for 14th in program history for career 3-pointers at 84. Gibson is now just three made 3-pointers away from advancing to 12th in program history past Melissa McKavish (1999-03) with 86.
 
PSAC INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
• Steals Per Game: Deleah Gibson – t-1st (2.6)
• Defensive Rebounds Per Game: Kennedy Middleton – 3rd (6.6)
• Points Per Game: Isabellah Middleton – 4th (16.9)
• Rebounds Per Game: Kennedy Middleton – t-4th (8.5)
• Defensive Rebounds Per Game: Isabellah Middleton – 5th (6.0)
• Free Throw Percentage: Deleah Gibson – 6th (.836)
• Rebounds Per Game: Isabellah Middleton – t-7th (8.4)
• Points Per Game: Deleah Gibson – t-7th (16.1)
• Assists Per Game: Kennedy Middleton – 8th (3.3)
• Steals Per Game: Isabellah Middleton – t-8th (2.1)
• 3-Pointers Per Game: Deleah Gibson – t-8th (2.1)
• 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: Deleah Gibson – 9th (.321)
 
PSAC TEAM RANKINGS
• Opponent 3-Point Percentage: 3rd (.277)
• Steals Per Game: 3rd (9.7)
• Rebounds Per Game: 4th (39.9)
• Opponent Turnovers: 5th (18.4)
• Offensive Rebounds Per Game: 5th (13.1)
• Defensive Rebounds Per Game: 6th (26.8)
• 3-Pointers Per Game: 7th (6.2)
• Turnover Margin: 8th (+1.5)
• Scoring: 11th (64.7)
 
INDIANA PRIMER
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
Overall Record: 18-7
PSAC West Record: 13-7
PSAC West Standings: Second
Home Record: 13-2
Away Record: 5-5
Last Five Games: 4-1
Streak: W4
Interim Head Coach: Craig Carey | First year at IUP (18-7)
 
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON HAWKS
Last time out: Indiana improved its winning streak to four games when it picked up a 71-52 victory over Edinboro at home Wednesday.
 
As a team, IUP ranks second in the PSAC in defensive rebounds per game (28.7), third in field goal percentage (.433), third in rebounds (40.5), fifth in scoring (71.5), fifth in 3-point percentage (.333) and fifth in assist per game (13.6).
 
The Crimson Hawk attack is contingent upon their five starters of Gina Adams, Kiera Baughman, Maria Cerro, Alana Cardona and Teirra Preston who each average double-figure points.
 
Baughman leads the group at 14.8 ppg followed closely by Cerro with 14.5 ppg. On the opposite end of the floor, Preston paces IUP with 9.3 rpg with Cardona next at 8.0 rpg.
 
In The Rock and Crimson Hawks' meeting earlier this year, Preston registered a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three steals, two assists and two blocks. Baughman tallied seven points, six rebounds, four assists and one steal. Cerro ended the contest with six points, five assists and two rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock closes out the regular season with a pair of home contests at Morrow Field House starting with a 5:30 p.m. contest versus Clarion on Feb. 22. Slippery Rock defeated the Golden Eagles, 77-68, in Clarion earlier in the year.







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