SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team rounded out Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover play with a back-and-forth 69-65 loss against East Stroudsburg University Saturday at Morrow Field House.

With the loss, Slippery Rock falls to 5-6 overall and 3-3 in the PSAC, while East Stroudsburg's record improves to 8-4 overall and 3-3 in the PSAC.

Alyssa Gillin led The Rock in scoring with 17 points to go along with five rebounds, one block and one steal. With her block, Gillin moved into a tie for 15^th in career blocks at SRU. The senior is now tied with Beth Dansberger (1992-96) and Chere Marshall (2006-10) with 45 career rejections.

Sophia Hook put in 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Iyanna Wade and Karianna Woods scored 11 points apiece. Wade dished out three assists, grabbed two steals and one rebound, while Woods came down with four boards, dished out two assists, picked up three steals and blocked one shot.

Kayley Joseph-Bernard neared a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds. The senior also added six assists and two steals.

Hannah Pugliese and Mairan Haggery rounded out Slippery Rock's scorers with three points each.

ESU came out of the gate firing as the Warriors scored 14 of the game's first 18 points. Slippery Rock responded with 13 of the next 17 points to cut ESU's lead to one (18-17). East Stroudsburg countered with a 4-0 run to end the first quarter with a 22-17 lead.

The Rock clawed back to tie the ballgame, 31-31, at the 3:06 mark of the second quarter before each team secured a 5-0 run to enter halftime at 36-36.

Slippery Rock took its first lead of the game at, 39-36, on a Joseph-Bernard 3-pointer. SRU then held a 41-40 lead before ending the third quarter on a 15-8 run to push its lead to 56-48 entering the final frame.

Down the stretch, The Rock were looking to increase their lead to five points, but an inadvertent whistle wiped out a Slippery Rock bucket. The whistle resulted in SRU getting 0.3 seconds on the shot clock, which led to a shot clock violation. On the ensuing possession, the Warriors hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, 61-61.

SRU re-took the lead as Hook hit two free throws with 2:24 remaining. The two teams traded made baskets to bring the game to, 65-65, before ESU got a defensive stop and took a 67-65 advantage with just 37 seconds remaining.

Out of a timeout, Wade fought through contact to get to the basket, but her game-tying attempt with 6.7 seconds left fell short. The Warriors would make only one of their two foul shots, giving SRU one last chance to tie the game. On The Rock's final possession, ESU forced a turnover before SRU was able to get a shot attempt off.

ESU once again hit one of two foul shots to ice the game, 69-65.

Slippery Rock ended the game shooting percent 41.8 (23-of-55) from the field overall, 40 percent (8-for-20) from the 3-point line and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the charity stripe. 

The Rock used the offensive glass to their benefit with 12 second chance points to ESU's four. The battle inside was even as each team scored 28 points in the paint.

Defensively, SRU limited East Stroudsburg to 46.6 percent (27-of-58) shooting from the floor overall, 41.7 percent (5-for-12) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from the foul line.

Brooke Droege paced East Stroudsburg with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor. Avery White and Brie Droege rounded out ESU's double-digit scorers with 14 and 12 points respectively.

Slippery Rock enters PSAC West play 5 p.m. Jan. 7 at Clarion.



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