SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team will seek out its first sweep of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division opponent this season 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Clarion.
The Rock come into the game with an overall record of 2-19 and a conference mark of 2-16. The Golden Eagles are still looking for their first win of the season at 0-25 on the year and 0-19 in the PSAC.
WATCH LIVE
Fans can watch Wednesday's game live and on-demand for free via the links below provided by Clarion Sports Information.
GAME 22 OF 25
Opponent: Clarion
Date: Wednesday – 5:30 p.m.
Location: Clarion, Pennsylvania
Venue: Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium
Live Video: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Live Stats: Clarion Sports Information
In-game Updates: X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: Slippery Rock leads, 57-44
Last Played: Jan. 24, 2024 (SRU won, 62-60)
SERIES HISTORY vs. CLARION
Wednesday will mark the 102
nd all-time meeting between The Rock and the Golden Eagles, a series that Slippery Rock holds a 57-44 advantage in. Despite the series history tilting in SRU's favor, no team has swept the series in a season since The Rock won both matchups in 2018.
The Golden Eagles hold a narrow 26-25 edge in games played at Clarion. Slippery Rock is 2-3 in its last five games played at Tippin Gymnasium. Despite falling to Clarion at Morrow Field House a year ago, Slippery Rock split the series with a 77-68 road win.
Overall, the series has been very even as of recent, with Slippery Rock coming away with an 11-9 record over the Golden Eagles in the teams' last 20 meetings.
LAST MEETING WITH THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Slippery Rock soared past Clarion in a 62-60 comeback victory at Morrow Field House Jan. 24. After trailing 28-23 at halftime, SRU prevailed by outscoring the Golden Eagles in the fourth quarter, 20-16. Clarion had 14 seconds to erase a 62-58 deficit but had to settle for a layup at the buzzer after a missed 3-point attempt.
Regan Atkins posted a career-high 23 points in the victory, shooting 8-of-16 (.500) from the floor. She also reined in her first career double-double with a team-leading 10 rebounds in addition to notching two assists and a steal.
Endya Robinson also recorded a personal record with 14 points, shooting 7-of-13 (.538) from the court. The Chicago native brought down seven rebounds with a team-high six defensive boards. Additionally, she led the way in takeaways with three steals on top of claiming her first block for SRU.
Gabby Jackson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points with help from
Kaylin Venick's career-best five assists.
| TEAM COMPARISON |
| THE ROCK |
STAT |
GOLDEN EAGLES |
| 51.0 (17th) |
Points per Game |
59.1 (14th) |
| 70.4 (16th) |
Opp. Points per Game |
77.3 (18th) |
| .349 (16th) |
Field Goal Pct. |
.345 (17th) |
| .467 (18th) |
Opp. Field Goal Pct. |
.430 (16th) |
| .240 (16th) |
3-Point Pct. |
.281 (14th) |
| .322 (16th) |
Opp 3-Point Pct. |
.332 (17th) |
| 4.5 (13th) |
3-Pointers Made per Game |
6.9 (3rd) |
| .683 (15th) |
Free Throw Pct. |
.694 (13th) |
| 28.9 (18th) |
Rebounds per Game |
38.1 (7th) |
| 39.3 (16th) |
Opp. Rebounds per Game |
43.4 (18th) |
| -10.4 (18th) |
Rebounding Margin |
-5.3 (16th) |
| 10.0 (16th) |
Assists |
9.9 (17th) |
| -2.3 (15th) |
Turnover Margin |
-5.2 (18th) |
| 6.8 (14th) |
Steals |
6.1 (16th) |
| 1.1 (18th) |
Blocks |
1.5 (17th) |
| Per game averages (Rank in PSAC) |
THE ROCK BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 2-19
PSAC Record: 2-16
PSAC West Standings: 8
th
Home Record: 2-9
Away Record: 0-10
Streak: L7
Last Five Games: 0-5
Head Coach: Ryenn Micaletti | First season at SRU (2-19)
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock lost to Pitt-Johnstown, 75-44, Feb. 17 at home. The Mountain Cats led wire-to-wire after creating a 16-point advantage through the first 10 minutes of play. Atkins led The Rock with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. She also earned six rebounds and two steals.
Kristina Donza, who was recognized in a pregame ceremony for Senior Day, was SRU's second athlete in double figures with 12 points. Venick, on top of her six points, brought down a team-high seven rebounds to go along with her three assists.
LEADING THE ROCK
Slippery Rock's leading scorer in Atkins also ranks ninth in the PSAC and sixth in the PSAC West with 15.7 points per game. Her 48.2 field goal percentage ranks seventh throughout the conference.
Atkins' five rebounds per game is also just 0.1 boards away from Robinson's team-leading 5.1. Atkins has controlled the majority of the offensive rebounds (1.9 per game) while Robinson has come down with most of the defensive boards (4.2 per game).
Deryn Moye and
Emily Venick are both tied for first on the team with 28 total assists, while Atkins and
Kaylin Venick have each recorded 27. Likewise,
Kaylin Venick has led SRU with 23 total steals on the year, just one ahead of Robinson's 22.
AMONG THE BEST
Atkins has led all freshmen in the PSAC in scoring this season, remaining on top of the conference with 15.7 points per game. She will go up against Autumn Taylor of Clarion Wednesday, who ranks second among freshmen in the conference with 11 points per game.
Points per game among all PSAC freshmen:
1. Regan Atkins, Slippery Rock (15.7)
2. Autumn Taylor, Clarion (11.0)
3. Katie Sheeler, Mansfield University (10.0)
T4. Bella Chimienti, Shippensburg University (8.5)
T4. Kara Wehner, Shepherd University (8.5)
Atkins' 15.7 points per game ranks her third in Division II among all freshmen, as well.
Points per game among all Division II freshmen:
1. Zuriyah Davis, University of West Georgia (17.1)
2. Jahnel Lewis, Caldwell University (16.1)
3. Regan Atkins, Slippery Rock (15.7)
4. Mason Rowland, Colorado Mesa University (15.6)
5. Sydney Nelson, Cal Poly Pomona (15.0)
The New Castle, Pennsylvania native is the only Division II player to average above 48 percent from the floor while scoring 15 points per game. She is one of only four players combined in Division I and Division II who meet this threshold.
DI and DII freshmen who shoot above 48 percent and 15 points per game:
1. Audi Crooks, Iowa State University (56.8%, 18.0 PPG)
2. Meghan Andersen, Fairfield University (54.1%, 15.9 PPG)
3. Mikaylah Williams, Louisiana State University (49.8%, 15.9 PPG)
4. Regan Atkins, Slippery Rock (48.2%, 15.7 PPG)
TOP ACTIVE SRU CAREER STATS vs. CLARION
Regan Atkins – 23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 8-of-16 FG (1 GP)
Kaylin Venick – 16 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals (5 GP)
Endya Robinson – 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, 7-of-13 FG (1 GP)
Emily Venick – 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 5-of-6 FG (5 GP)
Alyssa Gillin – 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks (2 GP)
CRASHING THE NET
Kaylin Venick led Slippery Rock with seven rebounds versus Pitt-Johnstown, marking the fifth game this season where the team captain has come away with at least half a dozen rebounds. Venick scored six points and registered three assists in the effort, as well.
With six rebounds, Atkins notched her ninth straight game of at least four rebounds. Her career-high in rebounds came Jan. 24 against Clarion with 10 boards in her first double-double.
LOOKING DEEP
Donza made a 3-pointer for Slippery Rock against UPJ, giving the Jackson, New Jersey native her seventh made 3-pointer in just three games. Donza has now cashed in from the 3-point arc at least once in 15-of-21 (71.4 percent) games played this season. She has made at least two 3-point field goals in nine games.
On the season, Donza has accumulated a team-best 31 3-pointers, averaging 1.5 per contest.
WINNING IN FEBRUARY
A win Wednesday would secure Slippery Rock's sixth consecutive February having won at least one game. After Slippery Rock snapped a three-game losing streak Feb. 8, 2023, The Rock went on to win three straight games en route to a 15-13 overall season.
SLIPPERY ROCK SWEEPS
The Rock swept two of their eight PSAC West opponents last year with a pair of wins over both Indiana University (Pa.) and Mercyhurst University. A win over Clarion would give Slippery Rock its third straight season of posting at least one sweep over an opponent. The Rock defeated Clarion 62-60 earlier this year at Morrow Field House.
ROCK STARS OF RECENT
• Robinson earned her second block of the season against Pitt-Johnstown. She is now one of five players on the roster to have posted at least two blocks this year. Coincidentally, her first career block in an SRU uniform came against Clarion.
•
Hallie Raabe tied career-highs with two assists and one steal against UPJ. Raabe has recorded a steal in a game on five different occasions through her career, while creating two assists in a game three times this season.
•
Anye Washington matched personal bests against UPJ by netting two steals and an assist. The freshman from Philadelphia stole the ball twice against Shepherd University earlier this season and has now tallied six assists in her career.
• Slippery Rock tied Pitt-Johnstown in fast break points, 9-9. This marked the first time in nine games that The Rock have totaled greater than or equal to the number of fast break points as its opponents. Clarion held a slight 11-7 advantage in this category the last time the two teams met.
RECORD WATCH
With 19 points against Pitt-Johnstown, Atkins increased her season total to 330 points. Atkins, just the fifth freshman in Slippery Rock history to record 300 points in a season, has sole possession of fifth all-time in SRU freshman scoring. Atkins requires 19 points to tie Heather Kearney's 349 points scored in the 1995-96 season.
Atkins has also played 765 minutes on the court this year, which ranks fourth all-time among SRU freshmen. Playing more than 14 minutes against Clarion would bump her up to third past Stacey Green's 2001-02 campaign.
Becky Siembak leads both of these categories, stemming from her 465 points scored in 829 minutes played in the 1999-00 circuit. Atkins is the first freshman to score 300 points in a year for Slippery Rock since Siembak did it 24 years ago.
THE GOLDEN EAGLES BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 0-25
PSAC Record: 0-19
PSAC West Standings: 9
th
Home Record: 0-10
Away Record: 0-13
Neutral Record: 0-2
Streak: L25
Last Five Games: 0-5
Head Coach: Danielle Fleming | First season with Clarion (0-25)
Roster: Link
Stats: Link
CLARION SCOUTING REPORT
The Golden Eagles have not won a game since Feb. 22, 2023, when they defeated Slippery Rock at Morrow Field House, 75-71. Combined with the last game of the season a year ago, Clarion enters Wednesday's matchup on a 26-game winless streak.
Despite that drought, the Golden Eagles have played impressively in some key games this season. Clarion has lost by 10 points or less in eight of its last 10 games, including an 66-62 overtime loss to California (Pa.). The Golden Eagles' last five games at Tippin Gymnasium have all been dropped by margins of 10 or fewer points.
The Golden Eagles have been anchored by true freshman Autumn Taylor, contributing 11 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Taylor ranks second in scoring among freshmen in the PSAC behind Atkins. The Twinsburg, Ohio native leads Clarion with 2.1 3-pointers per game, as Clarion ranks third in the conference by sinking 6.9 3-balls per game.
Sadre'a Rougeau has added 8.7 points per game this year for Clarion, second on the team. The graduate student from Ypsilanti, Michigan led the Golden Eagles with 15 points off the bench against Slippery Rock last month.
Not only is Clarion looking for its first win of the season, but head coach Danielle Fleming is also seeking her first career win at the Division II level in her first year at the helm for the Golden Eagles.
LOOKING AHEAD
Slippery Rock will return home 1 p.m. Saturday to host IUP in its annual whiteout game. The Rock will also be supporting Play4Kay in their annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game.
To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).
