ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst women's basketball team dropped a 70-63 decision at Slippery Rock Wednesday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division contest.
Angela Heintz led the Lakers, scoring 18 points and recorded seven rebounds.
At the 15:18 mark in the first half, Mercyhurst was tied with The Rock, 8-8. The Lakers would begin to open up the game, going on a 13-0 run with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
Adrienne Kloecker broke the tie game, sinking back-to-back jumpers to give Mercyhurst a four point advantage. After two made
Alex Artise free-throws,
Natalie Piaggesi would score twice in the paint with Heintz draining her only three-pointer in-between her field goals to close the spurt.
Slippery Rock would cut into the Laker lead, pulling within three with 4:31 remaining in the half. Mercyhurst would end the first on another run, outscoring The Rock 8-2, to take a nine point lead into the break, 37-28. Mercyhurst's defense forced Slippery Rock into seven first half turnovers which led to eight points on the other end.
In the second half, the Lakers would struggle to score, as Slippery Rock would come all the way back to take their first lead of the game, 45-43, at the 13:38 mark. Heintz would knot the game back up for the seventh time after knocking down two free-throws. However, that would be the last time Mercyhurst would pressure Slippery Rock's lead, as The Rock would go onto to outscore the Lakers 42-26 in the half.
Slippery Rock dominated the paint area, where they scored 42 points to Mercyhurst's 18. The Lakers would also get edged on the boards, 42-35.
Piaggesi and Artise would also produce double digit scoring, as Piaggesi recorded 17 and Artise posted 10. As a team, Mercyhurst shot 33.9% (21-62) from the field and just 22.7% (5-22) from behind the arc.
With the loss, the Lakers fall to 8-15 overall and 5-12 in PSAC play. Slippery Rock improves to 9-13, 5-12 PSAC.
Mercyhurst will play host to Edinboro Saturday, February 7, at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. The game is set to tip at 1:00 p.m.
