ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team suffered an 89-75 loss to Glenville State University after keeping the Pioneers within reach for much of Sunday's Atlantic Region Challenge contest in Erie, Pennsylvania.
 
The game marked SRU's first loss of the season, moving The Rock to 1-1 to start the year. On the flipside, the Pioneers picked up their first win of the year after losing to Gannon University Saturday, improving to 1-1 overall.
 
Regan Atkins recorded the fourth double-double of her career, just three assists shy of a triple-double. Atkins led The Rock with 21 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks, while knocking down seven of her 14 field goal attempts and three of five 3-point chances.
 
Mairan Haggerty recorded 12 points and led SRU with two steals, while Rebecca Goetz shot 5-of-5 from the floor to round out Slippery Rock's offensive leaders with 10 points.
 
Kayley Joseph-Bernard grabbed 10 rebounds while aiding with eight points. Tahmala Thorpe put in a solid 34-minute shift with nine points and four assists. Brooklyn Jones also dished out six assists in addition to scoring four points herself. Sophia Hook (7 points, 4 assists) and Alyssa Gillin (4 points, 4 rebounds) were the final two of Slippery Rock's eight scorers.
 
Atkins gave The Rock their first three baskets, generating a 7-2 lead through the first 1:47 of the game. Glenville State used a fast-paced style of play highlighted by a full court press for the remainder of the game, pulling out to a 26-15 lead after the first quarter.
 
Slippery Rock hung with Glenville State in the second quarter, going on a 12-4 run in the opening 5:41. Four three-pointers in the final 2:12 of the first half propelled the Pioneers back out to a 48-35 advantage.
 
SRU refused to go away quietly, hitting 10 of its 16 shots from the floor in the third quarter (62.5 percent) to outscore GSU 23-17 and cut the deficit to a 65-58 difference.
 
An early fourth-quarter jumper from Goetz cut the lead to five, but the final four of Glenville State's 21 total steals followed, holding Slippery Rock at bay. The Pioneers took advantage of some SRU foul trouble to hit 14-of-22 fourth-quarter free throws (63.6 percent) and claim a 14-point victory.
 
A -14 turnover margin plagued The Rock in transition, but SRU shot well when it did get down the court, converting 50.9 percent of its field goal opportunities (29-of-57). Glenville State shot 38.8 percent (33-of-85), piling up a 36-11 difference in points off turnovers.
 
The Rock went 5-for-11 from 3-point range (45.5 percent) compared to GSU's 8-for-36 (22.2 percent) showing. SRU also wound up making 12-of-19 free throws (63.2 percent) as opposed to GSU's 57.7 percent clip (15-of-26). The Pioneers claimed a 50-40 advantage off the boards for a +10 rebounding margin that featured 25 offensive rebounds.
 
Tynasia Bunting came off the bench to score 19 points for Glenville State, shooting 8-of-13 from the hardwood. She also led GSU with five steals and ranked second on the team with seven rebounds behind Nwando Okigbo's nine rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock will return home to make its first Morrow Field House appearance of the year 5:30 p.m. Wednesday against Malone University.





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