SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team will trek across the state to face East Stroudsburg University 1 p.m. Saturday in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover battle.
 
The Rock will take a 5-5 overall record on the near-300-mile trip as well as a 3-2 mark in conference action. The Warriors will look to improve upon a 3-6 record on the season that includes a 0-4 start to PSAC play.
 
TICKETS
All tickets to Saturday's game at East Stroudsburg will be sold at the door. Adult tickets are $10 while tickets for seniors 65 or older and children 12 and under are $5. Each ticket covers admission to both the women's and men's basketball games Saturday at Koehler Fieldhouse. More information can be found on ESU's website HERE.
 
WATCH LIVE
Fans can watch Saturday's game live for free via the links below provided by East Stroudsburg Athletic Communications.
 
GAME 11 of 26
Opponent: East Stroudsburg
Date: Saturday – 1 p.m.
Location: East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania  
Venue: Koehler Fieldhouse
Live Video: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Live Stats: East Stroudsburg Athletic Communication
In-game Updates: X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: 15-9
Current Streak: L1
Last Played: Dec. 30, 2022 at ESU (SRU lost, 50-42)
 
TOP ACTIVE SRU CAREER STATS vs. EAST STROUDSBURG
Kaylin Venick – 5 points, 1 steal, 1 block (2 GP)
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Rock and the Warriors will be meeting for the 25^th time in series history, a matchup that Slippery Rock owns a 15-9 lead in.
 
Slippery Rock has won three of its last four games against East Stroudsburg, but the Warriors picked up the most recent win, a 50-42 decision at ESU Dec. 30, 2022. Kaylin Venick contributed five points, four rebounds, a block and a steal that day for The Rock.
 
Saturday also marks Slippery Rock's 10^th away game at East Stroudsburg, looking to better a 5-4 record when facing the Warriors on the road. Prior to SRU's 2022 loss, The Rock came away from East Stroudsburg with victories in 2017 (70-66) and 2018 (75-68).
 

TEAM COMPARISON
THE ROCK	STAT	WARRIORS
67.3	Points per Game	61.6
63.8	Opp. Points per Game	63.9
41.8%	Field Goal Pct.	41.3%
38.5%	Opp. Field Goal Pct.	38.6%
32.2%	3-Point Pct.	21.3%
29.5%	Opp 3-Point Pct.	29.7%
6.7	3-Pointers Made per Game	2.1
74.3%	Free Throw Pct.	71.9%
38.1	Rebounds per Game	36.3
36.9	Opp. Rebounds per Game	36.4
+1.2	Rebounding Margin	-0.1
14.9	Assists	15.2
-1.1	Turnover Margin	+0.6
5.8	Steals	9.6
3.4	Blocks	3.1
Per game averages

 
THE ROCK BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 5-5
PSAC Record: 3-2
Home Record: 2-3
Away Record: 2-1
Neutral Record: 1-1
Last Five: 2-3
Streak: W1
PSAC West Rank: T-6^th of 8
Head Coach: Ryenn Micaletti | Second season at SRU (7-28)
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock improved to 3-2 in PSAC play with a 70-51 wire-to-wire win over Mansfield Dec. 17 at home. The win also pushed SRU's overall record to 5-5, marking the eighth time in the last 10 seasons that Slippery Rock has reached at least .500 through the first 10 games of the year.
 
Regan Atkins led Slippery Rock with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Tahmala Thorpe serviced 14 points and accrued a team-leading five assists and four steals to go along with four rebounds. Mairan Haggerty (11 points, 7 rebounds) and Kayley Joseph-Bernard (10 points, 5 rebounds) rounded out the four double-digit scorers for SRU.
 
Slippery Rock recorded 12 assists on 25 field goals and came away with 12 steals to help force a +4 turnover margin (19-15). The Rock also beat the Mountaineers in the rebounding battle with a +6 difference (42-36). SRU shot 42.4 percent overall (25-of-59) in the 19-point win.
 
LEADING THE ROCK
Atkins is Slippery Rock's leading scorer with 12.3 points per game, having started in all 10 games so far this year. Thorpe (10.6) and Sophia Hook (10.1) are the other two players that comprise the three SRU student-athletes averaging double figures.
 
Joseph-Bernard has contributed 8.3 points per game toward The Rock's offense with 7.5 points coming from Haggerty and 6.9 points per contest courtesy of Gillin.
 
Rebecca Goetz has made a team-high 61.5 percent of her field goal attempts (16-of-26), while Joseph-Bernard has knocked down an impressive 49.3 percent of her shot attempts (36-of-73). Jones continues to lead The Rock from 3-point range with a 43.3 percent conversion rate (13-of-30) with 1.3 made 3-pointers per game.
 
Joseph-Bernard also leads Slippery Rock in rebounding with 8.9 boards per game, reaching 10 rebounds in five of her 10 games this year. Joseph-Bernard also leads SRU with 4.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. Thorpe ranks second on the team with 3.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game, while Atkins has logged 0.7 blocks per contest.
 
A QUARTET REACHES DOUBLE DIGITS
Thanks to Atkins (18), Thorpe (14), Haggerty (11) and Joseph-Bernard (10), Slippery Rock had four different players score in double figures for the third time this season. The Rock are 3-0 on the year when this happens, also occurring versus Salem University (69-59) and West Chester University (69-56).
 
Atkins is the lone player who has been involved in all three of these stat lines, tallying 11 points at Salem and 16 points against West Chester.
 
Joseph-Bernard (15), Jones (12) and Goetz (10) joined Atkins in the top four scorers versus Salem, while Thorpe (17), Gillin (10) and Hook (10) rounded out the group of double-digit scorers against the Golden Rams.
 
SHARING THE ROCK
Slippery Rock's 14.9 assists per game rank fourth in the PSAC as a team, a statistic that is bolstered by Joseph-Bernard's team-leading 4.4 assists per game. Joseph-Bernard ranks second in the conference individually thanks to that per-game average, as well as 38^th in Division II.
 
Joseph-Bernard is one of the only forwards in the nation, not only in Division II – but in all three NCAA Divisions – who average more than four assists per game:
 
Assists per game by forwards (as of Dec. 19)
1. Emily Kennedy (Lehmen / D-III) – 5.5
2. Laura Ziegler (Saint Joseph's / D-I) – 4.9
3. Chloe Hodges (Drexel / D-I) – 4.6
T4. Kayley Joseph-Bernard (The Rock / D-II) – 4.4
T4. Shea Tripp (Wayne State (Mich.) / D-II) – 4.4
 
DEFENSE MADE OF STEALs
Slippery Rock totaled 12 steals against Mansfield, the team's most in 29 games. The Rock's dozen steals against the Mountaineers are the most steals in a single game since Slippery Rock recorded 14 steals in a narrow 60-58 loss to Shepherd University last year.
 
Seven of those 12 steals came in the first quarter alone, a 10-minute stretch that saw The Rock force nine turnovers from Mansfield. This is the third time Slippery Rock has tallied seven steals in the same quarter, tying a school record. (2018-19 vs. Elizabeth City State University and 2022-23 vs. Indiana University (Pa.)).
 
Joseph-Bernard accounted for three of those first-quarter steals, marking the 18^th time in recorded SRU women's basketball history a player has individually registered at least three steals in a single quarter.
 
Joseph-Bernard and Thorpe finished the game against Mansfield with four steals apiece, which both tie a season-high for Slippery Rock. This is the first time in 47 games that The Rock have had two different players each record at least four steals. Deleah Gibson and Kennedy Middleton both had four steals in a 67-63 loss to Edinboro Jan. 18, 2023.
 
REGAN HITS A MILESTONE
With her team-leading 18 points and nine rebounds against Mansfield, Atkins became the fastest Rock women's basketball player to reach both 500 points and 200 rebounds since Becky Siembak in 2000.
 
Atkins' outing this week marked her 35^th career game, all of which she has started. The reigning PSAC West Freshman of the Year enters Saturday with 504 points and 202 rebounds in her career, which equal out to 14.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game since her collegiate debut last season.
 
BLOCK PARTY AT THE ROCK
As Slippery Rock held Mansfield – which ranks second in the conference in blocks – to its first game this season with no blocks recorded, The Rock racked up four blocks themselves for the seventh time in 10 games.
 
SRU now ranks third in the PSAC West with 3.4 blocks per game, led by Joseph-Bernard's 0.9 blocked shots per contest. Joseph-Bernard stacks up sixth in the PSAC West in blocks per game with that output.
 
GOOD FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Slippery Rock's 32.2 percentage from 3-point territory still ranks third conferencewide, behind only Pitt-Johnstown (33.2 percent) and Gannon University (32.5 percent). The Rock have made at least five 3-pointers in four of their last six games including 14 against Tiffin University Nov. 26.
 
Behind Hook and Jones with 13 3-balls apiece, Atkins and Thorpe have both cashed in on 11 triples this season. Gillin rounds out SRU's top five with 10 treys through as many games.
 
SOLID OFF THE BOARDS
Slippery Rock has accumulated a +16 rebounding margin in its last four games, winning the rebound battle in three of those four contests. Prior to those four games, The Rock were outrebounded by just one board in three straight games.
 
That said, SRU has earned a +13 rebounding margin in its last seven games. On average, Slippery Rock has outrebounded its opponents with a +1.2 difference (381-369).
 
ANOTHER EXPLOSIVE QUARTER
Slippery Rock outscored Mansfield in the third quarter, 25-14, for its highest-scoring third quarter this season. That's Slippery Rock's third 25-point quarter of the season, as SRU posted 26 points in the first quarter against Davis & Elkins College and 28 points in the second quarter versus Tiffin.
 
WHERE THE EAST MEETS THE WEST
Slippery Rock has historically fared well when playing PSAC East opponents, going 29-25 (.537) since the 2014-15 season. The Rock cannot finish below .500 against PSAC East schools this year, as SRU brings a 3-2 conference record into its final PSAC crossover clash of the season.
 
The PSAC West has flexed a collective muscle against the PSAC East through the crossover contests this season. The Western Division squads have combined for a 30-10 (.750) record against their Eastern Division opponents this season. Four of the eight PSAC West teams – IUP, Seton Hill, Gannon and Edinboro – have a 5-0 record in PSAC competition thus far.
 
IT MIGHT NOT BE THE ARMY-NAVY GAME, BUT…
The Warriors are led by the PSAC East's only first-year head coach, Liz Flooks. Before the two set off on their respective stints in Division I basketball, Flooks and SRU head coach Ryenn Micaletti crossed paths in the PSAC West from 2013-15.
 
A former assistant coach at Pitt-Johnstown, Flooks faced off against teams Micaletti served on the coaching staff four times. Flooks and the Mountain Cats dropped a pair of contests to IUP in the 2013-14 year before splitting results against Slippery Rock in the 2014-15 season.
 
Micaletti and Flooks actually met as dueling assistant coaches four more times, as Flooks went on to be an assistant at Army around the same time Micaletti became an assistant at Navy. Flooks and the Black Knights swept the Navy in the 2018-19 season, but the two service academies split Patriot League contests in the 2019-20 year.
 
All said, Micaletti and Flooks are set to face each other in a coaching battle for the ninth time Saturday but for the first time as head coaches. The "all-time series" stands at 4-4.
 
ROCK STARS OF RECENT
• Haggerty broke another personal record with seven rebounds versus Mansfield, topping the six boards she pulled in against D&E. The New Castle, Pennsylvania native also posted her fourth block in 10 games with The Rock.
 
• Joseph-Bernard matched a career-high four steals against the Mountaineers, a total she also recorded versus Tiffin.
 
• Atkins' 18-point game that brought her above 500 career points included six free throws, which tied a season-high for her (West Chester). Atkins' nine free throw attempts are the highest of anyone on the SRU roster this year. She matched a season-high with two steals as well (Bloomsburg), now with four steals in her last two games.
 
• Deryn Moye went 2-for-2 at the free throw line for the third time this season, now shooting 80.0 percent at the stripe in her junior year (8-of-10).
 
• Thorpe tied career-highs with both four rebounds and four steals against Mansfield. The University of Akron transfer reeled in four rebounds for the Zips against Point Park University in the 2022-23 season and recorded three steals for Akron versus Notre Dame College (Ohio) in the same year.
 
• Goetz came away from the Mansfield game with her second career steel (Salem) as well as her fourth block.
 
• Gillin registered a career-high three assists against the Mounties, breaking a previous-best two assists, which she did two separate times. A junior from Monaca, Pennsylvania, Gillin also logged a season-high two blocks. She enters Saturday's game with three blocks in the last two games.
 
THE WARRIORS BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 3-6
PSAC Record: 0-4
Home Record: 1-3
Away Record: 0-3
Neutral Record: 2-0
Last Five: 1-4
Streak: L4
PSAC East Rank: T-7^th of 9
Head Coach: Liz Flooks | First season at East Stroudsburg (3-6, .333)
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
 
EAST STROUDSBURG SCOUTING REPORT
The 3-6 Warriors are seeking their first win in conference play with an 0-4 mark in the PSAC, most recently falling to No. 14 Seton Hill University on the road in a valiant effort, 79-69. ESU also lost to Gannon (60-47), California (Pa.) (69-63) and Edinboro (73-44) – four PSAC opponents with a combined overall record of 39-8 (.830).
 
Far and away East Stroudsburg's greatest asset is Emily Chmiel, averaging 22.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. A senior transfer from Chestnut Hill College, Chmiel, a six-foot-two center, is one of just four players in the PSAC averaging a double-double. The Doylestown, Pennsylvania product has recorded six double-doubles in nine games.
 
Corrin Gill ranks fourth in the PSAC with 4.1 assists per game with Lacie Kringe averaging 3.8 assists per game as well. Kringe, a sophomore from Drums, Pennsylvania, is second on the team in scoring behind Chmiel with 8.6 points per game. Izzy Vogel has also aided ESU with a well-rounded presence of 5.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Slippery Rock will waste no time once the calendar flips to 2025, beginning PSAC West competition 5 p.m. Jan. 3 by hosting Seton Hill at Morrow Field House. The Griffins were ranked 12^th nationally in the most recent Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll.





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