SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – A late rally by the Slippery Rock University women’s basketball team came up just short in an 85-83 loss to Clarion University Wednesday night at Morrow Field House.
Slippery Rock trailed by eight points, 77-69, with 2:07 remaining in regulation before going on a 14-8 run over the following 1:48 to cut the Golden Eagles’ lead down to 85-83 with 15 seconds remaining and possession of the ball following a Clarion foul shot.
However, SRU was unable to convert a shot inside the paint on the ensuing possession with just seconds remaining that would have tied the game, allowing Clarion to escape with the two-point Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division victory.
Slippery Rock (7-9, 4-6 PSAC West) was led by Lexi Carpenter, who matched her career-high with 32 points in addition to passing out five assists, grabbing five rebounds and making two steals. Carpenter went 12-for-23 from the field, 5-for-10 from 3-point range and 3-for-4 at the free throw line. Carpenter played the final 4:20 of Wednesday’s game with four fouls.
Redbank Valley graduate Brooke Hinderliter, recorded the first double-double of her career with season-highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes. Hinderliter, who had five offensive rebounds, was an efficient 6-of-10 from the field.
Mallory Heinle and Morgan Henderson both finished the contest in double figures as well with 10 points apiece. Heinle nearly registered a double-double of her own with eight rebounds in addition to chipping in three assists and four steals.
As a team, Slippery Rock shot 42 percent (29-of-69) from the field overall, 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from 3-point territory and 80 percent (16-of-20) from the free throw line.
The difference in the game was the Golden Eagles’ performance from 3-point range. Clarion connected on 15-of-36 attempts (41.7 percent) from deep. The 15 made 3-pointers were the most by Clarion against a Division II team this season. The Golden Eagles shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the field overall and held a 45-35 rebounding advantage.
Tyra Polite scored 24 points and Amesha Harden-Pullium scored 20 points to pace Clarion.
Slippery Rock forced Clarion into 19 turnovers while committing just 11 miscues of its own. The Rock also held advantages over Clarion in points off turnovers (23-6), points in the paint (34-14) and second chance points (16-13).
SRU dominated early on, outscoring Clarion 14-3 through the opening five minutes of the first quarter thanks to seven points from Carpenter and five from Henderson. Clarion slowly chipped away at The Rock’s lead over the remainder of the half and eventually took its first lead of the game after a Delrika Jones-Carey layup with 42 seconds left in the second quarter gave CU a 40-39 lead heading into the break.
The Rock and Golden Eagles traded baskets for the first five minutes of the third quarter, but Clarion closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 60-50 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Slippery Rock completely erased Clarion’s lead with a great opening five minutes of play in the fourth quarter thanks to a balanced attack that saw five different players score at least two points. Clarion proceeded to open up its aforementioned eight-point advantage heading into the game’s final moments as The Rock’s final comeback bid came up just short.
Slippery Rock will play its final PSAC crossover game of the season on the road Saturday against East Stroudsburg at 1 p.m.
Clarion returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday at Gannon.
GOLDEN EAGLE MEN FALL TO SLIPPERY ROCK, 78-72
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men’s basketball team snapped a two-game losing skid with a 78-72 victory over Clarion University Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Morrow Field House.
The Rock (10-6, 6-4 PSAC) never trailed in the final 35 minutes of the game and led by as many as 18 points in the second half before Clarion (5-10, 3-7 PSAC) rallied in the final four minutes to trim the deficit to the final margin of six points.
Slippery Rock shot 54.7 percent from the field (29-of-53), 21.4 percent from 3-point (3-of-14) and 70.8 percent at the free throw line (17-of-24). The Rock scored 40 points in the paint and converted 11 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. SRU posted a 33-22 edge in total rebounds after entering the game ranked seventh in the nation in rebounding margin at +10.2 boards per game.
Clarion shot 57 percent in the second half, but much of the hot shooting came in the final four minutes when the Golden Eagles were trailing by double figures. The visitors finished the game at 47.3 percent from the field (26-of-55), 33.3 percent from 3-point (5-of-15) and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (15-of-18).
Naquil Jones continued his torrid pace in recent games to lead Slippery Rock with a game-high 21 points. He also handed out seven assists and has now averaged 20.3 points per game over The Rock’s last seven games.
Vinny Lasley had his best game in a Rock uniform with a career-high 11 points and he also pulled down seven rebounds. Merdic Green added 14 points and Khyree Wooten chipped in 12 points and two blocks. Amir Maddred scored 10 points and grabbed seven boards to give The Rock five players in double figures.
Christal Malalu chipped in six points and Jordan Marrow scored four points to round out the scoring for SRU.
Clarion was led by Akeem Williams with 16 points and nine rebounds. The forward accounted for nearly half of his team’s total rebounds (22). Manny Powell added 11 points and BJ Andrews and Jamani Pierce each scored 10 points.
Wednesday night’s win snapped a streak of three straight wins for Clarion in the all-time series between the two teams and improved SRU to 6-1 at home on the season and 97-24 at home during the tenure of head coach Kevin Reynolds, which dates back to the 2008-09 season.
The Rock will wrap up a stretch of four games in nine days when they travel to East Stroudsburg Saturday for a 3 p.m. game.
Clarion is back in action at 3 p.m. Saturday at Gannon.
