Slippery Rock women’s basketball ended its disappointing season on a positive note with a 71-63 victory against Clarion University of Pennsylvania on Saturday night at Morrow Field House.
The Rock finishes the season with a 6-20 overall record and a 3-19 PSAC record.
Senior Danielle Smith led SRU in her final game with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and was in double figures with four other teammates.
Jasmine Cooper added 18 points, Paris Thomas chipped in 12 and Erinne Cunningham scored 11.
Slippery Rock avoided another slow start as they scored the first six points of the game and proceeded to hold the lead throughout.
SRU remained focused with disciplined play as they took a five point, 34-29 lead into the half.
This marked the first time SRU had the lead at halftime since their January 28 matchup against Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Within two minutes of the second half starting, SRU pulled out to a double-digit lead and held its advantage throughout.
Slippery Rock shot 36 percent from the field, 22 percent from 3-point range, and 57 percent from the free throw line. Clarion shot 42 percent from the field, 10 percent from 3-point range, and 44 percent from the free throw line.
Saturday marked the final game at Morrow Field House for seniors Danielle Smith, Shannon Lee, and Sherita Stanley. They were honored during a pregame ceremony.
After the game, Stanley said that it was good to close out the season and her career at SRU with a victory.
“It felt awesome getting a win,” Stanley said. “It felt like a normal game for me so it was a win-win situation. I will always remember the last game and no one can take that away from me.”
Head coach Tanya Longo was pleased with the team’s fast start and said that was one of the reasons that helped to lead to the win.
“We made baskets early, which increased our confidence,” Longo said. “We also had stops on the defensive end. When you do that and take care of the basketball, you’re able to get good production on the offensive end.”
While The Rock closed out its season with a victory, the majority of the season saw many slow offensive starts that led to losing streaks.
After losing their first two games, SRU got its first win against Ursuline College, but then dropped six consecutive games to start off the conference schedule.
Of the six losses, the largest loss was an 81-49 defeat against Millersville University of Pennsylvania.
After the six-game losing streak, SRU hit its high point of the season by winning four out of its next six games.
In the small winning streak, SRU defeated conference opponents, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and Mercyhurst University, along with two non-conference wins against Notre Dame College (Ohio) and the University of Charleston.
After the short period of success, the Rock went on to its longest losing streak of the season, dropping 11 consecutive games.
The streak started on Jan, 7. with a loss against Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.
Some major losses during the long losing streak were double-digit losses against No. 3 Edinboro University, No. 20 Gannon University and No. 18 IUP.
