SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team suffered a narrow 63-61 loss to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division opponent Seton Hill University Saturday at Morrow Field House.
 
The loss moves The Rock's record to 12-10 overall and 7-9 in the conference while the Griffins improve to 16-9 overall and 9-7 in PSAC competition.
 
Slippery Rock Rock had the ball with 28 seconds left in regulation, giving itself a chance to record the game-tying, or go-ahead basket. However, coming out of a timeout, SRU could not get into its offense, resulting in another timeout with just 2.1 seconds showing on the clock.
 
The ensuing inbounds pass found Kennedy Middleton, but a desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer hit the top of the backboard as Seton Hill escaped with the win. 
 
Slippery Rock had a trio of players end the night in double-figures as Kennedy Middleton led the way with a solid stat line of 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal.
 
Deleah Gibson tallied 15 points, six rebounds, four steals, two assist and one block while shooting an efficient 60 percent (6-of-10) from the floor.
 
Isabellah Middleton rounded out SRU's double-digit scorers with her eighth double-double of the season as she registered 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to go along with three steals and two assists.
 
Aiding in Slippery Rocks efforts were Bella Long (5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist), Kaylin Venick (4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Alyssa Gillin (4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal) and Kelley McKnight (4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal).
 
The Rock opened the first quarter on a 6-0 run before going on to trade the lead with the Griffins four times over the first two quarters leading to an eventual 29-25 SRU advantage at halftime.
 
Coming out of the break, Seton Hill scored the first four points of the third quarter to knot the game up, 29-29, before the back-and-forth action continued leading to four additional ties throughout the third.
 
The Griffins closed out the third quarter on an 8-4 run to take a 48-45 lead into the final 10 minutes. Despite outshooting Seton Hill by one point and tying the score two more times over the fourth, Slippery Rock fell short of a comeback win as SHU made its final four free throws to seal a 63-61 victory.
 
As a team, SRU shot 34.2 percent (25-of-73) from the floor, 25 percent (4-of-16) from long range and 77.8 percent (7-of-9) from the foul line. The Rock forced the Griffins into 17 turnovers while making 19 miscues of their own. Slippery Rock also held a +14 (51-37) rebounding advantage over Seton Hill.

Seton Hill ended the night shooting 37.7 percent (23-of-61) from the floor, 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from 3-point range and 91.7 percent (11-of-12) from the charity stripe. Hallie Cowan led the Griffins with 19 points while shooting 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
 
SRU continues its tight turnaround of three games in five days when hits the road for a PSAC West test at California (Pa.) 5:30 p.m. Monday. Earlier this year the Vulcans defeated The Rock, 63-52, at Morrow Field House.
 
 



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