Rock climbs closer Win pushes
SLIPPERY ROCK — The schedule favors Slippery Rock University. So does its level of play right now.
The Rock's women's basketball team pulled itself to the brink of its first PSAC West playoff berth in four years Wednesday night with a 74-41 thrashing of Clarion at Morrow Field House.
That victory came on the heels of a 58-39 win over Lock Haven — the other of the three contenders for that final postseason spot — here Saturday.
"I can't complain about much right now," SRU coach Laurel Heilman said. "We've been playing pretty well."
The Rock (13-12, 5-5) jumped on the Golden Eagles for a 19-6 lead in the first nine minutes Wednesday night. A 21-2 spurt in the first 12 minutes of the second half widened that gap to 62-28.
SRU's biggest lead was 35 points at 72-37 with 1:55 left in the game.
"It's all about being focused," said SRU senior point guard and Grove City grad Amber McFeely. "We came out of the locker room knowing what we had to get done. It's as simple as that."
A fourth-year starter, McFeely had nine points and seven assists. She entered the game second in the PSAC with 6.3 assists per game.
The Rock will clinch the fourth PSAC West playoff berth with a win either Saturday at Shippensburg or next Wednesday at home against Indiana (Pa.).
SRU also can reach postseason play if Clarion (12-12, 3-6) and Lock Haven lose one more game. Both have California (Pa.) and Edinboro — the top two teams in the PSAC West — remaining on the schedule.
"Nothing comes easily," Heilman said. "Our program hasn't won at Ship, and IUP is playing great right now. Still, it's nice to have control of our own fate this late in the season."
Sophomore forward Amber Chojnacki paced SRU with 20 points and eight rebounds Wednesday. She had 14 points in the first half and didn't play in the game's final 10 minutes.
Clarion entered the game averaging 68.7 points per game, but scored only 39 and 41 points in two games against The Rock this season.
"We have two goals each game: Outrebound the other team by 10 and hold them below 65 points," Chojnacki said. "When we do that, we usually win."
SRU is trying to reach the playoffs without having a player averaging 10 points per game. Its 57.2 points allowed leads the PSAC.
The Rock's 74 points scored Wednesday marked a season-high.
"The way we've struggled offensively this year, the girls know defense and rebounding are critical to us," Heilman said. "We're one of the smallest post teams in the league, yet we've been out-rebounding people.
"Offensively, we clicked tonight. We were making the extra pass and were getting the ball inside. We've never worked the ball down low like we did tonight."
SRU scored 26 points off turnovers to Clarion's four. The Rock turned the ball over just eight times and had 22 assists as a team.
Melba Melton paced three Clarion players in double figures with 13 points.
The Golden Eagles (11-11, 4-5) kept their faint playoff hopes alive by pulling away in the final seven minutes.The score was tied nine times and the lead changed hands nine times. SRU (2-22, 1-9) took the lead for the final time at 59-58 on a Dejan Jancic three-point play with 7:07 remaining.Clarion went on a 17-5 run from there to assume a 75-64 lead with 1:07 left."We took bad shots and were reaching and grabbing in transition because we didn't want to run the floor," SRU John Marhefka said. "We didn't pay attention to fundamentals and lacked effort tonight."Coming off that (93-83) win Saturday (over Lock Haven), we had two horrible practices Monday and Tuesday. It's very disappointing. It's a sign of immaturity."The Rock fell behind 35-21 with 2:47 left in the first half and trailed by nine at halftime. Clarion sank 10 of 13 shots from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes, including a 6-for-6 effort by Leon Kennedy.Kennedy and Ricky Henderson scored 20 points each for Clarion, which still trails IUP by a game for the final playoff spot. The Golden Eagles have reached the PSAC playoffs nine consecutive years, the longest active streak in the conference.Joseph Vines paced The Rock with 18 points while Jancic added 11 off the bench.The Rock had pulled within six points early in the second half when leading scorer Jamar Scales took his third personal foul, then intentionally bumped into a Clarion player and was called for a technical foul.That happened with 17:48 left. Scales did not return to the game."There's going to be talking and bumping in basketball," Marhefka said. "You can't lose your temper out there. These guys have to learn."Women's BoxCLARION (41)Melba Melton 6-14 1-3 13, Ashley Grimm 0-5 0-0 0, Jessica Albanese 2-8 6-8 10, Katrina Greer 4-10 2-2 12, April Gratton 2-10 0-0 4, Angie Woods 0-0 0-0 0, Michele Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Leah Shrift 1-7 0-0 2, Chelsey Grabigel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-54 9-13 41.SLIPPERY ROCK (74)Amber McFeely 4-7 0-0 9, Angela Greaser 1-4 2-2 4, Amanda Chojnacki 10-12 0-0 20, Kristen Bonner 3-6 0-0 8, Jessica Schake 2-7 1-2 5, Amanda Nero 1-3 0-0 2, Alissa Schake 0-0 0-0 0, Jess Caso 1-2 2-2 4, Dana Stewart 0-2 0-0 0, Amanda Kaufman 3-4 3-3 9, Cathy Lee Peffer 1-2 0-0 2, KellyAnn Staudinger 2-4 0-0 4, Jess DiSante 0-2 0-0 0, Stephanie Schwartz 2-4 1-1 5, Ana Nikolic 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 31-60 9-10 74.Halftime — SRU, 40-26. 3-point goals — Clarion 2-15 (Melton 0-1, Grimm 0-4, Albanese 0-1, Greer 2-5, Gratton 0-1, Shrift 0-3), SRU 3-9 (McFeely 1-2, Bonner 2-5, Nero 0-1, Peffer 0-1). Rebounds — Clarion 32 (Shrift 9), SRY 41 (Chojnacki 8). Assists — Clarion 5 (Melton 3), SRU 22 (McFeely 7). Total fouls — Clarion 11, SRU 13. Fouled out — none; Technical fouls — none.Men's BoxCLARION (78)Leon Kennedy 7-9 0-1 20, Ryan Smith 1-4 0-0 2, Terrance Vaughns 2-7 10-10 16, Ricky Henderson 8-13 3-4 20, Chris Buchanan 2-9 2-2 7, Justin Collins 1-4 4-4 7, Bobby Franklin 1-3 4-4 6, R.J. Martin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-49 23-25 78SLIPPERY ROCK (69)Brandon Thompson 3-7 3-4 9, Jamar Scales 3-4 0-0 6, Matt Hale 3-7 1-1 9, Joseph Vines 7-14 4-7 18, Erroll Robinson 3-11 0-0 7, Corey Nesser 1-1 0-0 2, Matt Schaefer 1-6 0-0 2, Eric Novick 2-3 1-2 5, Dejan Jancic 4-4 3-5 11. Totals: 27-57 12-19 69.Halftime — Clarion, 40-31. 3-point goals — Clarion 11-18 (Kennedy 6-7, Smith 0-1, Vaughns 2-5, Henderson 1-1, Buchanan 1-1, Collins 1-3), SRU 3-11 (Hale 2-5, Robinson 1-2, Schaefer 0-4). Rebounds — Clarion 26 (Henderson 7), SRU 33 (Vines 9). Assists — Clarion 11 (Vaughns 5), SRU 11 (Hale 6). Total fouls — Clarion 16, SRU 24. Fouled out — Hale (SRU); Technical fouls — Scales (SRU).
