AKRON, Ohio – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team lost on a Division I stage at the University of Akron Wednesday night, 79-43.
 
The result does not affect the overall record for The Rock, who were playing their third D-I opponent in two years. The game served as a countable contest for the Zips, who improve to 4-5 on the season with the win.
 
Slippery Rock hung around with Akron for much of the first half, holding five different leads and not allowing the Zips to pull ahead by more than a single basket through the opening 14:52. Akron outscored SRU 46-20 in the second half to pull away to its eventual 36-point victory.
 
Anye Washington had one of the best games of her career with a team-leading 11 points and three steals. Washington recorded a 3-of-7 showing from the 3-point arc while bringing in two rebounds. Regan Atkins matched her total with 11 points with an assist, a rebound and a steal.
 
Alyssa Gillin tallied six points and a block for SRU, while Hallie Raabe registered a team-leading five rebounds in addition to her four points. Former Zip Tahmala Thorpe led The Rock with two assists. She also totaled three rebounds.
 
Hannah Pugliese (5 points, 2 rebounds), Endya Robinson (4 points, 3 rebounds), Mairan Haggerty (1 point, 1 rebound), Tori Johnson (1 point, 2 rebounds), Kayley Joseph-Bernard (3 rebounds) and Ava Darney (1 rebound) rounded out SRU's eight different scorers and 11 unique rebounders.
 
Gillin's six points came by way of SRU's first three field goals. Those half dozen points plus a free throw from Haggerty gave Slippery Rock a 7-6 lead at the first media timeout in the game. Washington hit a 3-pointer with 2:43 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 11-11, but the Zips took a 14-11 lead into the second after a triple of their own.
 
Washington hit a second 3-pointer to open the second quarter, tying the game, 14-14. Two free throws from Atkins lifted SRU to a 16-14 advantage, as The Rock's defense held Akron scoreless for the first 3:24 of the second quarter. A 10-0 run got the Zips back on the board, boosting them to a 33-23 halftime lead.
 
Atkins and Washington both knocked down a jumper from beyond the 3-point perimeter in the first portion of the third quarter, but 50.0 percent (17-of-34) second-half shooting including six 3-pointers from Akron allowed the Zips to pile onto their lead for the remainder of the game.
 
Slippery Rock was held to 27.8 percent shooting overall (15-of-54) with a 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) showing from 3-point range. The Rock struggled at the foul line as well, going 9-of-16 (56.3 percent).
 
Akron ended its night shooting 42.0 percent from the field (29-of-69) and 27.0 percent behind the 3-point line (10-of-37). The Zips were nearly perfect at the foul stripe, hitting 11-of-12 free throws (91.7 percent).
 
As a team, Akron earned a +16 rebounding margin (50-34) and a +4 difference in turnovers (15-11). 15 points from five 3-pointers by Maddie Vejsicky led the team's five double-digit scorers.
 
The Rock will return to Division II competition with a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover road trip this weekend. SRU will play at Kutztown University 3 p.m. Friday and Bloomsburg University 1 p.m. Saturday.





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