Women lose in crossover home games

Slippery Rock women's basketball (1-5 overall, 0-4 PSAC) lost both games of its weekend doubleheader at Morrow Field House against the eastern half of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

The first loss came against East Stroudsburg University (3-2 overall, 1-2 PSAC), 60-50, and the second against Kutztown University (3-6, 2-2), by a 50-47 final. Senior Danielle Smith led the way against Kutztown University and recorded a double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds, 15 of the rebounds were on the defensive end.

"I feel like we just have to cut back on the mistakes," Smith said. "We have to be able to play a strong 40 minutes."

Rock head coach Tonya Longo saw an improvement over the previous day's game against East Stroudsburg, but knows there still is work to be done on both ends of the court.

"I know my team has what it takes to win," Longo said. "We play hard, but we have to put in a full 40 minutes of basketball in order to win. Right now, our prime issue is the offense and taking care of the ball. You can't expect to win the game when you turn the ball over."

Slippery Rock went on a 13-5 run to take the lead heading into half time, 23-15. The Rock would let the lead slip away in the beginning of the second half as the Golden Bears went on an 18-5 run to take the lead, 33-28.

"Kutztown came out more aggressive and attacked more in the second half," Longo said. "We didn't respond well to that."

SRU was able to briefly take a four-point, 39-35, but couldn't hold on as they gave up 15 points in the final 9:44 to lose by three points, 50-47.

Junior Paris Thomas finished with five assists and added 11 points to the Rock's total.

"We stuck to our game plan," Thomas said. "We had too many mental lapses. We have to stay focused for 40 minutes instead of 20."

Longo was pleased with Thomas' play on Sunday.

"She was our lead point guard," Longo said. "She is still new and learning the system, but she managed the game well."

In the loss against East Stroudsburg University, Smith was the star for SRU and led the Rock with 16 points, three rebounds and two assists.

"I feel like we have to execute better as a team," Smith said. "We have to play smarter as a team."

With 4:30 left in the first half, the Rock went on a 7-0 run to grab the lead, 23-21. The lead didn't last long and it was the Warriors who went into halftime with a six-point lead.

Longo knew her team had to be more consistent going into the second half.

"I felt like we executed our game plan in the first half," Longo said. "We talked about adjusting going into the second half. We knew we had to be more consistent."

Slippery Rock suffered from turnovers all game. The Rock finished the game with 25 turnovers, 13 coming in the first half alone, something Longo attributes to problems concerning chemistry and consistency.

"Unfortunately, that has plagued us through the first part of the season," Longo said. "It's a mix of chemistry and consistency. We have new players this year and getting everyone on the same page will take some time."

    Sophomore Jasmine Cooper led the Rock in rebounds with 10 on the day, eight of them being defensive rebounds. She finished the day with nine points, as well.

"We didn't execute good enough today," Cooper said. "I think we could've done a lot better. The other team worked hard on both ends of the floor. I felt like we let this one slip away."

Junior Erinne Cunningham scored 13 points and led the Rock in three pointers with two.

"As a team, we are just trying to get better," Cunningham said. "Everybody was just focusing on our strength. I know we are all good players."

The Rock would come within a point of tying the game at 41 halfway through the second half, but the Warriors would go on a 12-0 run to make the score 52-40 to put the Rock away for good.

Defensively, Slippery Rock recorded 11 steals and forced 17 turnovers. Offensively, they had 19 turnovers, seven less than the previous day's game against East Stroudsburg.

Slippery Rock will continue Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play as they travel to Bloomsburg University today and then to Mansfield University on Dec. 10.