Rock women hold on vs. IUP

By JOHN ENRIETTO Eagle Sports Editor

January 25, 2007 Last Updated: January 25, 2007 12:04 PM College

SLIPPERY ROCK — Disastrous defeat loomed.

The Slippery Rock Universitywomen's basketball team blew a 20-point lead in the second half and fell behind 57-56 with 1:06 remaining Wednesday night at Morrow Field House.

"It would have been a shame to lose this game,"SRUcoach Laurel Heilman. "I felt like we deserved to win it."

And they did.

Two free throws by freshman guard Nikki Presto regained the lead for SRU(8-9, 2-1) with 51 seconds left. The Rock took the ball away from Indiana (Pa.) twice after that and held on for a 62-59 victory.

Presto led SRUwith 16 points, sinking four 3-pointers in the first half to help The Rock build its big lead. The hosts led 41-21 with 17:30 left in the game.

IUP's brief 57-56 edge was the Crimson Hawks' lone scoreboard advantage all night.

"We didn't need any 3-pointers in the second half because we had the big lead,"Presto said. "But we have to handle pressure better.

"We went 10 straight possessions at one point down the stretch without scoring a point. That can't happen."

SRU had a 47-28 lead after KellyAnn Staudinger sank a pair of free throws with 14:13 to go. The Rock scored only two points in the next eight minutes as IUP(12-6, 2-1) closed the gap.

Presto was in and out of the lineup with foul trouble as SRU's offense struggled.

"It was a chore just getting the ball to halfcourt at times," Heilman admitted.

The Crimson Hawks entered the game riding a three-game winning streak and having won 10 of their last 12 games. SRUwas looking for its first two-game winning streak of the season.

IUPsank only 5 of 35 shots in the first half. Its two top scorers this season — post player Jahzinga Tracey and guard Katie Glaws — were a combined 5-of-32 from the floor on the night.

"You size an opponent up sometimes and you think you're in for an easy night,"IUPcoach Cindy Martin said. "I don't think my team took Slippery Rock seriously enough and we got beat. We didn't practice well yesterday and, tonight, that reared its ugly head."

Trailing 58-57 with 30 seconds left, Martin called a timeout. She designed a lob pass off the inbounds to Tracey, but SRU's Jessica Schake stole the ball and got it ahead to Dana Stewart for a layup with 21 seconds left.

Tracey was called for an offensive foul moments later and Stewart iced the win by draining two free throws with 7.4 seconds to play.

IUP(men) 76, SRU69 — The Rock was looking for its first basketball doubleheader sweep of the season, but the Crimson Hawks (4-11, 2-1) built an 18-point lead midway through the second half and held on for the win.The Rock (4-14, 1-2) pulled within 66-62 with 3:01 remaining, but got no closer."This was a setback tonight,"SRUcoach Jamal Palmer said. "We gave this one away and it was almost like a must-win for both teams."IUPentered the game having lost 11 of its last 12. The Crimson Hawks sank seven treys in the first half as poor defense continued to hurt The Rock. SRUallows a conference-worst 81.8 points per game.Junior guard Kenny Smith came off the bench to spark SRU's second-half run, scoring all 20 of his points after intermission. He sank four 3-pointers."Kenny's a streaky shooter,"Palmer said. "When he catches fire, he can carry us. We have a few players like that."We have to take some pride in playing defense. We have to find a way to stop somebody."

INDIANA (PA.) 59Lauren Fisher 3-6 3-4 9, Kierstin Filla 2-5 3-6 7, Kylie Miller 3-8 1-2 8, Katie Glaws 3-16 3-5 11, Staci Heberling 5-12 0-0 12, Krista Nordby 0-1 0-0 0, Hillary Shope 0-2 0-0 0, Jahzinga Tracey 2-16 1-3 5. Totals: 20-71 13-22 59SLIPPERY ROCK 62Amanda Nero 3-4 2-2 8, Nikki Presto 5-11 2-2 16, Jessica Schake 1-5 0-0 2, Chere Marshall 4-9 0-0 8, Nijha McNeely 4-11 0-1 8, Becky Steele 0-0 0-0 0, Kara Spagnola 0-1 0-0 0. Amanda Chojnacki 2-5 0-0 4, Dana Stewart 3-6 3-3 9, Amanda Kaufman 2-2 1-2 5, KellyAnn Staudinger 0-1 2-2 2, Colleen Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-55 10-12 62Halftime score:SRU35, IUP19; 3-point shooting:IUP6-24 (Filla 0-1, Miller 1-5, Glaws 2-9, Heberling 2-3, Cornelius 1-1, Shope 0-1, Tracey 0-4), SRU4-6 (Presto 4-6); Rebounds:IUP42 (Tracey 9), SRU51 (McNeely 10); Assists:IUP4 (Filla 2), SRU 9 (Presto 2); Fouled out:Heberling (IUP); Technical fouls:NoneSaturday: SRU at Shippensburg

INDIANA(Pa.) 76Dave Mazza 2-7 2-2 7, Jordan Shaw 5-11 3-5 18, Avery Oliver 7-14 2-5 18, Gerald Brooks 6-11 0-0 12, Piotr Warawko 3-10 3-3 9, Allen Deep 3-8 0-0 8, Angelo Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Jude Urda 1-4 0-0 2, Adeniyi Amadou 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 28-67 10-15 76SLIPPERY ROCK 69Matt Schaefer 2-7 0-2 5, Jamar Scales 6-11 2-4 14, Joseph Vines 0-4 0-2 0, Erroll Robinson 4-8 1-2 9, Glenn Reepmeyer 6-6 2-2 14, Brian Campuzano 2-2 0-0 4, Rashiid Coleman 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Kenny Smith 7-11 2-2 20, Joe Marzullo 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 28-54 7-14 69Halftime score:IUP37, SRU26; 3-point shooting: IUP10-27 (Mazza 1-6, Shaw 5-10, Oliver 2-3, Warawko 0-1, Deep 2-5, Urda 0-2), SRU6-18 (Schaefer 1-4, Scales 0-1, Robinson 0-2, Coleman 0-1, Smith 4-7, Marzullo 1-3); Rebounds:IUP43 (Oliver, Brooks 7), SRU35 (Scales 8); Assists: IUP 12 (Shaw 3), SRU15 (Schaefer 9); Fouled out:None; Technical fouls:NoneSaturday: SRUatShippensburg