JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team fought valiantly through the first half but fell on the road to Pitt-Johnstown, 64-42, Saturday. 
 
The loss puts Slippery Rock's overall record at 1-12 with a 1-9 mark inside the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Mountain Cats picked up their third win in four games, improving to 12-5 on the year and 7-4 in PSAC play.
 
Despite the loss, The Rock went perfect from the foul line (12-of-12) for the first time since playing California (Pa.) on the road Feb. 6, 2023, a span of 18 games. 
 
Regan Atkins tied her career-high of 20 points as SRU's top scorer. The true freshman has now averaged 19.3 points per game in her last three outings. Atkins made half of the team's free throws going 6-of-6 at the line.
 
Deryn Moye's two 3-pointers led her to score eight points, while Endya Robinson and Kaylin Venick both pulled in a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Venick, whose eight rebounds mark a career-high for her, also spearheaded SRU with three of the team's eight steals.
 
After Slippery Rock won the opening tip, Moye made the first basket of the game to give the Green and White an opening 2-0 lead. When the Mountain Cats rallied past with four straight points, Moye replied with a 3-pointer to give SRU a 5-4 edge.
 
That would end up being the team's final advantage of the afternoon, trailing 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
 
While UPJ wrapped up the opening frame on a 10-2 run, Slippery Rock vowed to hang with the Mountain Cats with a second quarter rally. Atkins single-handedly outscored Pitt-Johnstown, 9-1, through a 2:48 stretch late in the period to cut the lead to 22-18.
 
The Rock concluded the first half with Venick going 4-of-4 at the foul line in back-to-back trips, bringing the score to 27-22 at intermission.
 
UPJ finally pulled away in the second half, taking advantage of a 37-20 margin through the final 20 minutes.
 
Gabby Jackson and Anye Washington both chipped in two points for Slippery Rock in the second half before Pitt-Johnstown secured the 22-point difference. The Mountain Cats benefitted from 10 different scorers, led by Cassidy Crawford's 11 points and Olivia Fasick's 10 points.
 
The Rock shot 13-of-47 (.277) from the floor while Pitt-Johnstown went 27-of-58 (.466). From the 3-point arc, SRU made 4-of-15 (.267) as opposed to UPJ's 9-of-21 (.429) effort. While SRU shot a perfect 12-of-12 from the foul line, UPJ had just one opportunity from the charity stripe all day, making 1-of-2.
 
Slippery Rock earned a 33-32 rebounding advantage on the day.
 
Slippery Rock will come back home to face off with Clarion 5:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at Morrow Field House. The Rock and the Golden Eagles split contests a season ago.




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