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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa – Slippery Rock University used a five-pronged offensive attack to snap a six-game losing streak and record a 71-63 victory over visiting Gannon University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division women's basketball action Wednesday night in Morrow Field House.

Junior forward Danielle Smith led the way with a game-high 18 points and five rebounds, while senior guard Grace Palucis added a season-high 14 points in a substitute role. Junior guards Shannon Lee and Sherita Stanley each contributed 11 points to the winning effort and sophomore guard Alex Beatty chipped in 10 points off the bench.

Stanley also handed out a team-best seven assists, while Beatty tied Smith for team-high honors in rebounds with five.

Julie Kleber scored a team-high 14 points for Gannon, which lost for the fourth time in the last five games and saw its season records fall to 9-9 overall, 2-5 in PSAC-West action.

The win was The Rock's third in 19 games overall and first in seven PSAC-West games this winter and broke a string of eight straight division losses that stretched back to Feb. 20, 2010 over Clarion (80-79).

Adding to the significance of the win was the fact Gannon received votes in this week's USA Today ESPN Division II national poll after setting an NCAA D-II record with 37 wins during a national final-four season last winter.

The Rock seeks to continue its winning ways Saturday when it travels to Clarion (4-15, 1-6 PSAC-W) for a 5:30 p.m. division game.

SRU and Clarion enter that game tied for seventh-place in the division standings.

Saturday's game will be the second of three straight games SRU plays against teams immediately ahead of it in the division standings.
The Rock opens a two-game homestand with a 6 p.m. game next Wednesday vs. co-No. 5 Lock Haven (9-8, 2-4 PSAC-W), then hosts division co-leader Indiana (13-5, 5-1 PSAC-W) for a 1 p.m. game Feb. 12.

SRU enjoyed its most productive opening half of the season with a 37-point effort that bettered a 36-point first-half effort Nov. 20 vs. Shepherd. But the effort wasn't enough to give the hosts a halftime lead as Gannon nailed a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to take a 40-37 advantage into the intermission.

The Rock and Golden Knights engaged in a nip-and-tuck battle for the first seven and a half minutes of action as the lead changed hands seven times and the score was tied once.

A 6-0 Gannon run then gave the Golden Knights an edge for approximately nine minutes, but The Rock refused to go away and battled back to knot the score at 31-31 with 3:45 left before halftime.

The guests scored the next four points to regain the lead, but again SRU came back to even the score, this time at 37-37 on a 3-point shot by Stanley with 0:07 left.

Kelley Sundberg came right back, though, to bury a trey as the horn sounded to send the Golden Knights into the intermission with a 30-27 lead.

Both teams feasted on 3-point shots in the opening 20 minutes as The Rock canned six of 12 long-range shots and Gannon nailed six of nine.

The Rock finished the half with a red-hot 58% (14-24) efficiency on its field goal attempts, while Gannon hit an even 50% (16-32). SRU was 3-of-4 from the foul line, while Gannon was perfect on its two charity tosses.

Gannon enjoyed a 14-11 rebounding advantage and had less turnovers by an 8-5 margin and also outscored the hosts by a 16-12 margin “in the paint” and a 14-8 margin “off the bench.”

Smith led The Rock's first-half scoring effort with 10 points, while Lee and Stanley each added nine points. Kleber scored 12 points to pace Gannon's attack.

Palucis, who buried four 3-point shots in the game, hit two of her three second-half treys in the span of 30 seconds to give The Rock a 62-57 lead with six minutes left.

Her initial second-half trey broke the fifth tie of the final 20 minutes and 12th deadlock of the game.

The hosts' lead was never less than three points in the final six minutes.

SRU finished the game with a 48% (11-23) efficiency on its 3-point attempts and a 57% (26-46) accuracy on all its field goal attempts. The Green and White made eight of 14 (57%) free throws.

Gannon, on the other hand, shot 41% (26-63) from the field with a 40% (6-15) subtotal on long-range shots and canned five of six free throws.

The guests also held a 31-27 rebounding advantage and had less turnovers, 16-13. But The Rock took better advantage of their foes' miscues as they outscored Gannon by a 14-8 margin off turnovers and also outscored the guests by a 24-18 margin “off the bench.”

Notes:

The Rock's first-half point total Wednesday was its second highest single-half mark of the season behind only a 39-point performance Jan. 3 at East Stroudsburg … Wednesday's opening-half point total was also only one point shy of its full-game scoring total last Saturday in a 77-38 loss at Edinboro.