SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team will dive back into its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover slate with a road trip to Kutztown University 3 p.m. Friday and Bloomsburg University 1 p.m. Saturday.
 
The Rock come into the weekend with a 3-4 overall record that includes a 1-1 showing in PSAC competition. The Golden Bears of KU are 3-5 on the season, while the Bloomsburg Huskies look to stay above .500 with a 4-3 mark. Both PSAC East foes are winless in conference play with Kutztown at 0-1 and Bloomsburg, 0-2.
 
KUTZTOWN TICKETS
Fans are encouraged to purchase advance tickets online HERE.
 
General admission tickets are sold at a discounted price of $8 when purchased in advance ($4 for seniors and non-Kutztown students), while tickets will be $10 ($5 for seniors and non-Kutztown students) at the door on Friday.
 
BLOOMSBURG TICKETS
All tickets to Saturday's game at Bloomsburg will be sold at the door. Adult tickets are $10 while senior and student tickets are $5. All tickets are general admission, and admission to Nelson Field House is cash-only.
 
More ticket information can be found on Bloomsburg's website HERE.
 
WATCH LIVE
Fans can watch Friday and Saturday's games live for free via the links below provided by Kutztown Sports Information and Bloomsburg Athletic Communications.
 
GAME 8 of 26
Opponent: Kutztown: Roster / Stats
Date: Friday – 3 p.m.
Location: Kutztown, Pennsylvania  
Venue: Keystone Arena
Live Video: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Live Stats: Kutztown Sports Information
In-game Updates: X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: 14-11
Current Streak: L3
Last Played: Jan. 3, 2024 at SRU (SRU lost, 69-46)
 
TOP ACTIVE SRU CAREER STATS vs. KUTZTOWN
Regan Atkins – 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists (1 GP)
Kaylin Venick – 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist (2 GP)
Deryn Moye – 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal (1 GP)
Endya Robinson – 5 points, 4 rebounds (1 GP)
Anye Washington – 3 points, 3 rebounds (1 GP)
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. KUTZTOWN
Slippery Rock and Kutztown will be meeting for the 26^th time in series history, a matchup that The Rock own a 14-11 all-time lead in. Despite that head-to-head advantage for SRU, Kutztown has claimed victories in eight of the last dozen meetings since 2007, including three straight wins since 2019.
 
The Golden Bears are 8-5 when hosting The Rock. Friday marks SRU's first trip to Kutztown since 2019, a game that ended up falling in KU's favor, 69-56. Prior to that, The Rock defeated Kutztown on the road in 2016, 72-65.
 
Slippery Rock fell to Kutztown Jan. 3, 2024 at Morrow Field House, 69-46. The Golden Bears outscored SRU in each of the four quarters despite missing 25 3-point attempts (11-of-36, .306). Regan Atkins led The Rock with 15 points, shooting 60 percent from the floor (6-of-10). Deryn Moye served as SRU's lead rebounder with six boards on top of her six points.
 
GAME 9 of 26
Opponent: Bloomsburg: Roster / Stats
Date: Saturday – 1 p.m.
Location: Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania  
Venue: Nelson Field House
Live Video: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Live Stats: Bloomsburg Athletic Communications
In-game Updates: X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: 13-17
Current Streak: W1
Last Played: Dec. 19, 2022 at SRU (SRU won, 62-46)
 
TOP ACTIVE SRU CAREER STATS vs. BLOOMSBURG
Alyssa Gillin – 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist (1 GP)
Kaylin Venick – 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal (2 GP)
Emily Venick – 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals (2 GP)
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. BLOOMSBURG
Saturday will see the 31^st all-time meeting between The Rock and the Huskies, a series that dates back to 1981. Bloomsburg is 17-13 in the series, thanks in large part to having won seven of the last nine contests since 2011.
 
The Huskies have also been dominant on home court, building an 11-4 record against SRU when hosting The Rock. A win for Bloomsburg Saturday would extend a home winning streak versus Slippery Rock to six consecutive games. The Rock last came out of Bloomsburg with a win in 2007, 67-52.
 
Bloom was one of the three PSAC East teams Slippery Rock did not play last year. The two sides last met at Morrow Field House Dec. 19, 2022, with Slippery Rock defeating the Huskies, 62-46. The Rock overcame a 13-point deficit by holding the Huskies to single digits in both the third and fourth quarters.
 

TEAM COMPARISON
THE ROCK	STAT	KU	BLOOM
70.1	Points per Game	61.5	70.4
66.6	Opp. Points per Game	60.8	62.1
42.2%	Field Goal Pct.	36.9%	42.6%
38.9%	Opp. Field Goal Pct.	38.9%	37.6%
33.8%	3-Point Pct.	31.3%	30.4%
28.1%	Opp 3-Point Pct.	31.3%	23.2%
7.4	3-Pointers Made per Game	8.3	5.4
72.1%	Free Throw Pct.	67.3%	75.0%
39.0	Rebounds per Game	36.6	37.1
37.7	Opp. Rebounds per Game	38.0	37.1
+1.3	Rebounding Margin	-1.4	0.0
16.1	Assists	13.4	14.9
-1.9	Turnover Margin	+1.8	+0.4
5.4	Steals	9.3	7.0
3.4	Blocks	3.8	3.0
Per game averages

 
THE ROCK BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 3-4
PSAC Record: 1-1
Home Record: 1-3
Away Record: 1-0
Neutral Record: 1-1
Last Five: 2-3
Streak: L2
PSAC West Rank: T-6^th of 8
Head Coach: Ryenn Micaletti | Second season at SRU (5-27)
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock lost an exhibition game on a Division I stage to the University of Akron, 79-43, Dec. 4 at James A. Rhodes Arena. The Rock hung around with the Zips early in the contest, forcing five lead changes and not allowing Akron to gain more than a single-basket lead through the opening 14:52. The Zips outscored SRU 46-20 in the second half to pull away.
 
Anye Washington led Slippery Rock with 11 points, a performance that included three of SRU's four 3-pointers of the game. Atkins matched her tally with 11 points, while Hallie Raabe reeled in a team-leading five rebounds on top of her four-point cameo.
 
The game, which did not count toward Slippery Rock's overall record or season statistics, marked SRU's third different Division I opponent in the last two seasons.
 
LEADING THE ROCK
Atkins leads Slippery Rock with 11.7 points per game, shooting 42 percent from the field (29-of-69). Tahmala Thorpe joins her in double digits with 10.6 points per game, while Sophia Hook ranks right behind with 10.1 points per game – all coming off the bench.
 
Rebecca Goetz has still spearheaded Slippery Rock's shooting percentage with 14 of her 21 field goal attempts falling (66.7 percent). Moye has made six of 11 opportunities from the field including a pair of 3-pointers for 54.5 percent shooting. Moye, SRU's top 3-point shooter last year, has appeared in all seven games this season as well.
 
Kayley Joseph-Bernard has continued to show dominance off the glass with 9.1 rebounds per game. Atkins ranks second on the squad with 7.9 rebounds per game, while Goetz reels in 5.0 rebounds per contest. 20 of Goetz's 35 total rebounds have come offensively.
 
5.0 assists per game from Joseph-Bernard is tops on the team to go along with her squad-leading 1.0 block per game. The category leadership doesn't end there for Joseph-Bernard in the stats – the junior transfer finds herself with an SRU-best 1.7 steals per game as well.
 
A FULL-TEAM EFFORT
12 different players saw time on the court for Slippery Rock in its exhibition showing at Akron, 11 of whom recorded at least one rebound and eight of which scored.
 
Eight different Slippery Rock players recorded at least two rebounds, an effort led by Raabe with five. Gillin, Joseph-Bernard, Thorpe and Endya Robinson all pulled down three rebounds for The Rock, while Washington, Tori Johnson and Hannah Pugliese each registered a pair of boards.
 
Six different Slippery Rock players reached four points on the night led by Atkins and Washington with 11 apiece. Gillin added six points for SRU with Pugliese tallying five points in 12 minutes.
 
Atkins, Gillin, Pugliese, Robinson and Washington all made at least two field goals for The Rock. Washington knocked down a team-best four baskets including three triples.
 
A SPLASH OFF THE BENCH
Slippery Rock outscored Akron in bench points, 25-23. While the Division I exhibition does not count toward SRU's season statistics, that would have marked the fourth time in eight games this season in which The Rock reached at least 25 points off the bench.
 
Slippery Rock scored 34 bench points in its season-opening 79-42 win over Davis & Elkins College, and most recently piled up 33 points off the bench in its 78-75 overtime loss to Tiffin University.
 
While six different players scored at least four points for SRU against Akron, four of those six scorers came off the bench: Washington (11), Pugliese (5), Raabe (4), Robinson (4).
 
THE ROCK IN PSAC CROSSOVERS
Slippery Rock has historically fared well when playing PSAC East opponents, going 27-24 (.529) since the 2014-15 season.
 
The Rock split their first round of PSAC crossover games Nov. 22-23, defeating West Chester University 69-56 a day before falling to Millersville University in double overtime, 62-59.
 
The PSAC West as a whole paced the conference through the opening pair of PSAC crossover rounds. In total, the eight teams of the PSAC West went 12-4 when hosting PSAC East schools Nov. 22-23. Two of those four losses were in overtime: Slippery Rock versus Millersville and California (Pa.) against the Marauders as well.
 
As a result, Millersville is the only one of the nine PSAC East schools remaining with an undefeated record in conference play despite no PSAC East team taking part in more than two league games. On the flipside, five of the eight PSAC West teams enter the weekend 2-0 in PSAC competition.
 
WHEN THE ROCK HEADS EAST
Slippery Rock is seeking its first road win against a PSAC East school since defeating Shepherd University on the road Dec. 2, 2022, 73-57. The Rock also earned a 65-56 victory at Mansfield University in the 2021-22 season.
 
SRU's most recent away game in a PSAC crossover game came at Lock Haven University Dec. 30, 2023 – a near-upset that ended in a heartbreaking 50-49 overtime loss.
 
3-POINT PRECISION
Slippery Rock ranks second in the PSAC with a 33.8 percent clip from the 3-point arc, while stacking up fourth in the conference with 7.4 made 3-pointers per game.
 
Only Pitt-Johnston (36.0 percent) ranks higher than The Rock in 3-point percentage. Seton Hill is the only PSAC West school (7.6) that makes more 3-point field goals per game than Slippery Rock.
 
Five SRU players are shooting at least 32 percent from 3-point range, led by Brooklyn Jones' 44 percent rate (11-of-25). Jones accelerated that season average for Slippery Rock by converting five of nine 3-point opportunities against Tiffin Nov. 26. The grad student from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has made at least one 3-pointer in all but two games this year.
 
Atkins (40.9 percent), Moye (40.0 percent), Gillin (32.0 percent) and Thorpe (32.0 percent) round out SRU's top five 3-point shooters percentagewise. Hook ranks sixth on the team shooting 28.9 percent from 3-point territory, but has knocked down 13 total 3-pointers on the season, leading The Rock with 1.9 treys per game.
 
SHARING THE ROCK
Slippery Rock's 16.1 assists per game rank second in the PSAC only behind Seton Hill's 17.0 assists per game.
 
Four of The Rock's seven games this season have come with at least 17 assists, led by a 23-assist effort against Glenville State University and a 20-assist log versus Tiffin.
 
Joseph-Bernard has recorded 35 of Slippery Rock's 113 total assists (31 percent), guiding The Rock with 5.0 assists per game. Most recently, the junior from Milton, Ontario broke a career-high with nine assists in the game against Tiffin.
 
Thorpe (3.1), Atkins (2.3) and Jones (2.0) all join Joseph-Bernard in the top four players on the team in assists per game. That quarter has comprised 87 total assists – 12.4 assists per game – 77 percent of Slippery Rock's total.
 
STILL SHOOTING WELL
While the last two countable games did not continue Slippery Rock's five-game streak of shooting at least 43 percent that The Rock opened the year, SRU still ranks sixth in the conference and fourth in the PSAC West with a 42.2 field goal percentage.
 
Six different Rock women's basketball players are shooting at least 42 percent on the season, led by Goetz, who has made 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) from the hardwood. Joseph-Bernard is SRU's top high-volume shooter with a 49.0 percent field goal clip (24-of-49).
 
Moye (6-of-11, .545), Mairan Haggerty (15-of-32, .469), Gillin (17-of-40, .425) and Atkins (29-of-69, .420) all round out that top half-dozen for The Rock.
 
ROCK STARS OF RECENT
Several Slippery Rock players posted performances at Akron that would have ranked highly toward career-highs had the exhibition game's statistics counted toward season and career records:
 
• The only other time Washington has made three 3-pointers was in last year's PSAC crossover doubleheader when she knocked down three triples at Millersville.
 
• Washington recorded a team-leading three steals against the Zips. Her career-best is two, which she has done on two separate occasions.
 
• Pugliese played 12 minutes against Akron, scoring five points and two rebounds.
 
• Raabe's five rebounds and one steal would have both matched career-best performances. Raabe has registered 10 career steals in as many games and brought down a personal-high five rebounds against Edinboro last year.
 
• True freshman Ava Darney of Youngstown, Ohio notched one rebound against Akron playing in her home state.
 
• Gillin posted SRU's lone block against Akron on a shot from Kam'Ren Rhodes, a junior transfer who came to Akron after making 37 appearances for the University of Illinois in Big Ten Conference women's basketball.
 
THE GOLDEN BEARS BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 3-5
PSAC Record: 0-1
Home Record: 2-0
Away Record: 0-42
Neutral Record: 1-3
Last Five: 2-3
Streak: W1
PSAC East Rank: T-4^th of 9
Head Coach: Janet Malouf | 30^th season at Kutztown (448-377, .543)
 
KUTZTOWN SCOUTING REPORT
The Golden Bears are starting the weekend atop the PSAC with 8.3 3-pointers per game. Kutztown ranks fifth in 3-point percentage with a 31.3 percent clip, having attempted a conference-leading 26.4 triples per game.
 
Senior guard Naia Pulliam leads Kutztown with 11.4 points per game. The Wilmington, Delaware native has shot 48.5 percent from the floor while making 13-of-36 from 3-point range (36.1 percent). A 5-of-9 showing from the perimeter sprung Pulliam to a 21-point outing against Goldey-Beacom College earlier this season.
 
6-foot-2 center Abbey Hearn leads KU with 6.3 rebounds per game, having posted 12 boards in the team's season-opening loss to Adams State University.
 
Pulliam led the Golden Bears last year at Slippery Rock with 20 points and five assists, while Hearn brought down a team-leading seven rebounds to go along with her 15 points. The two combined for seven 3-pointers and five steals, while Pulliam logged one of Kutztown's eight blocks.
 
Most recently, Kutztown cruised to a 96-20 win over Penn State Lehigh Valley after opening the game on a 26-0 run and taking a 46-4 lead into halftime. The Golden Bears' two Division II wins have come against Lincoln University (71-61) and Goldey-Beacom (75-56), two teams with a combined record of 1-13.
 
THE HUSKIES BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 4-3
PSAC Record: 0-2
Home Record: 1-0
Away Record: 2-2
Neutral Record: 1-1
Last Five: 3-2
Streak: W1
PSAC East Rank: T-4^th of 9
Head Coach: Alison Tagliaferri | Eighth season at Bloomsburg (96-109, .468)
 
BLOOMSBURG SCOUTING REPORT
The Huskies, who are only playing one PSAC crossover game this weekend, are coming off a Division I exhibition of their own. Bloomsburg held Niagara University at bay for the majority of the game Dec. 1, trailing the Purple Eagles by just five with 5:58 left in the third quarter. Niagara eventually pulled away to an 81-60 victory, its first of the season.
 
Bloomsburg narrowly went 0-2 in its PSAC crossover contests Nov. 22-23, falling to No. 4 Gannon University 67-64 before dropping a 104-99 overtime decision at Clarion. The Huskies returned home to hand Holy Family University its first loss of the year in a 57-48 result.
 
Leah Kale (13.7 PPG) and Katie Starr (13.4 PPG) lead Bloomsburg offensively, combining for 27.1 points per game – 38.5 percent of BU's total scoring. Starr, a 5-foot-11 senior forward from Berwick, Pennsylvania, has shot 56.3 percent from the floor. She also leads the Huskies with 5.9 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
 
Ava Stevenson has scored at least 14 points in three of her last four games, bringing 10.6 points and a 42.4 percent rate from the 3-point arc off the bench for Bloomsburg. The Huskies rank seventh in the PSAC with 30.4 percent 3-point shooting and are second in the conference in 3-point defense, holding opponents to just 23.2 percent from distance.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Slippery Rock will return after a 10-day hiatus from in-game competition 3 p.m. Dec. 17 when it hosts Mansfield University in its fifth of six PSAC crossover games.





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