SLIPPERY ROCK — It was as easy as 11, 22, 33.

Well, sort of.

KarlyRhoads, who wears uniform No. 11, Jence Rhoads (No. 22) and Kourtney Rhoads (No. 33) combined to score all but 10 of Slippery Rock's points.

The Rockets needed every last one of them.

SlipperyRock had to avoid a cataclysmic collapse on the way to a 62-53 win over Meadville in the first round of the District 10 Class AAA girls basketball playoffs at Morrow Field House Saturday night.

Jence Rhoads scored 32 points, 13 of them coming in the fourth quarter as the Rockets (16-9) held off a furious Bulldog rally.

"I knew (Jence) was going to will us to win, if that's what we needed," said SlipperyRock coach Adrienne Orris.

It didn't look like SlipperyRock would need anyone to will it to victory.

The Rockets scored the first eight points of the game before Meadville (18-7) attempted its first shot. Six of those points came on consecutive 3-pointers by KarlyRhoads, who finished with 16 points.

Slippery Rock led 21-4 with just five minutes gone in the game and led by 19 early in the third period before the wheels came off.

The Bulldogs outscored the Rockets 22-3 over an eight minute stretch and trailed 43-41 with 6:40 remaining in the fourth quarter.

But Orris' Guide to the Playoffs read much like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Don't panic.

"That was in the scouting report," Orris said with a smile. "It said, 'Don't panic.' I think they read that line and went from there."

It would have been easy for the Rockets to smash the glass over the panic button. With only two players with palpable playoff experience on the roster — Jence Rhoads and sophomore sixth-man Jenna Rinker — Slippery Rock was thought to be short on playoff poise.

But Orris chalked up the composure her team showed to plain ol' blissful ignorance.

"I don't think they know any better," Orris said. "(Meadville) never tied it up or took the lead. I don't think they looked at the scoreboard to realize it was that close."

Neither did Orris. The coach was surprised to find out the lead got all the way down to two points.

Jence Rhoads was well aware of that fact, however. And she wasn't about to let her team lose that lead.

She scored eight straight points for the Rockets after Meadville's rally to give her team some much needed breathing room.

"When they started coming back, I said, 'OK, someone needs to step up now. It might as well be me,'" Jence Rhoads said.

SlipperyRock also got it done at the foul line down the stretch. It hit 11-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter.

"You expend so much energy trying to come back, you don't have anything left in the final three minutes," said Meadville coach Dean Henderson.

Then there was the Jence factor.

"She can take over a game any time she wants," Henderson said. "And she did. They broke the press by giving it to her. She's so strong and so fast. It takes her five dribbles to go the length of the floor."

Orris is hopeful the experience against Meadville helped her team grow heading into a matchup with district power Mercyhurst Prep.

Slippery Rock will play Mercyhurst Prep at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the next round of the District 10 playoffs at Morrow Field House.

"Sometimes the close ones give you more experience," Orris said.

MEADVILLE 53Lindsay Heller 5-13 0-0 12, Jackie DeRemer 5-9 45-14, Abby Henderson 2-7 1-3 6, Kayla Nichols 2-3 0-0 5, Arianna Waid 2-5 3-4 7, Alyssa Gerhart 1-3 2-2 4, Amanda Schreck 2-4 1-1 5, Emily Mottillo 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 19-45 11-15 53

SLIPPERY ROCK 62Jence Rhoads 13-20 6-8 32, Emma Walter 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Cessar 2-5 0-0 4, KarlyRhoads 5-10 4-10 16, Kourtney Rhoads 1-8 2-2 4, Jenna Rinker 1-1 2-2 4, Ali Doyle 0-1 2-2 2, Shanea Raabe 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 22-46 16-24 62

Meadville 6 13 16 18—53Slippery Rock 21 11 9 21—623-point goals: Meadville 4 (Heller 2, Henderson, Nichols); SlipperyRock 2 (Karly Rhoads 2)

Wedndesday: Slippery Rock vs. Mercyhurst Prep at SRU's Morrow Field House, 6:30 p.m.