JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team fell for the fourth game in a row, 82-70, Saturday afternoon at Pitt-Johnstown.

With the loss, Slippery Rock's recprd stamds at 5-9 overall and 3-5 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, while Pitt-Johnstown's record improved to 6-8 overall and 3-5 in the PSAC.

Sophia Hook led SRU in scoring for the fourth time this season with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor overall and 2-for-5 from the 3-point line. Hook also grabbed six rebounds and one steal. Karianna Woods put in 12 points, on an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor overall, along with three points, two assists and one steal.

Kayley Joseph-Bernard and Alyssa Gillin combined for 19 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists, and five blocks while shooting 8-for-14 from the floor overall and 3-of 6 from beyond the arc as The Rock's frontcourt.

Rounding out the starters was Iyanna Wade with four points, four assists, three rebounds and one steal.

Mairan Haggerty contributed 14 points, five rebounds, one steal and one block in 18 minutes off the bench. Haggerty's 14 points was one away from tying her career high. Sarah Chawki rounded out The Rock's starters with two points.

Offense was not problem in the first five minutes for either side as SRU and UPJ combined to make nine of their first 14 shots, resulting in a 14-12 Mountain Cat advantage at the first media timeout. Pitt-Johnstown extended its lead to eight points (23-15) at the end of the first quarter.

The Mountain Cats kicked off the second quarter with a 10-2 run, giving UPJ a 33-17 advantage. The Rock countered with a 12-5 stretch to end the half, cutting their deficit to nine points (38-29).

Slippery Rock returned from the halftime break with a 15-6 run, tying the game, 44-44, at the 5:19 mark of the third quarter. In this stretch, SRU made six of its first eight shots of the half, including three from Joseph-Bernard. UPJ then edged back out in front, 57-51, to end the quarter.

The Mountain Cats scored the first four points of the final frame, before Woods scored a quick six points via a 3-pointer and an old fashioned 3-point play, cutting UPJ's lead to four points, 61-56, with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter. The Rock were unable to get closer than four points since that mark in the fourth quarter as Pitt-Johnstown closed out its 82-70 victory.

Slippery Rock ended the game shooting 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the field overall, 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from the 3-point line and 66.7 percent (14-of-21) from the charity stripe. The field goal and 3-point percentages were each the second highest for Slippery Rock this season.

SRU won the battle on the glass with a +7 rebounding margin (39-32), while UPJ won the battle inside, outscoring SRU 48-24 in the paint.

Defensively, SRU limited Pitt-Johnstown to 44.6 percent (29-of-65) shooting from the floor overall, 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from beyond the arc and 76.9 percent (20-of-26) from the foul line.

Angel Ezirim (20), Riley Childress (16) and M'laya Ainsworth (15) combined for 62.2 percent of Pitt-Johnstown's points (51-of-82). The Mountain Cats took care of the basketball as they only committed five turnovers and forced The Rock into comitting 21 turnovers, the second highest for SRU this season.

Slippery Rock returns to Morrow Field House to take on No. 8 Indiana University 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14.



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