SLIPPERY ROCK — Many eyebrows were raised when the Slippery Rock High girls basketball team scheduled the likes of Erie McDowell, General McLane and Hopewell in the early part of its schedule.

The Rockets lost all three and started the season with a pedestrian 2-3 record.

But there was a method to coach Adrienne Orris' madness and it showed in a 66-48 home win over Meadville in the region opener Thursday night.

"If I wanted to be 5-0 going into the region, I could have been. And I'd have girls averaging 20 points per game," Orris said. "But our goal is not to be undefeated right now. Our goal is to be playing our best basketball in March.

"A lot of people thought I was crazy playing those teams. But it paid off tonight."

Slippery Rock (3-3, 1-0) was dominant against a challenging region foe, as KarlyRhoads scored 24 points and Kourtney Rhoads got the Rockets off on the right foot with all 10 of her points coming in the first quarter.

Slippery Rock led 26-13 midway through the second quarter, but watched as Meadville went on a 12-2 run to close the game to 28-25 just three minutes later.

The Rockets recovered, built the lead back to 11 at the half and cruised in the final two quarters to a statement win.

"We came out to play," Orris said. "Basketball is a game of runs. They got their run and we had ours. We had gas at the end. When they lost their gas, we kept plugging away."

Slippery Rock's free throw shooting certainly helped.

The Rockets were 21-of-21 at the line. Karly Rhoads was 12-of-12 and is shooting 90 percent this season.

KarlyRhoads, who is averaging 18 points per game, also had 11 rebounds and was just as dangerous driving the lane as she was spotting up for a jumper.

"My goal for Karly this year is to be that floor general for me and take control," Orris said. "She's been under my wing for two years and knows what my expectations are. Ironically, tonight I was calling offenses and she wasn't making eye contact and calling the same thing thatI called."

Balanced scoring has been the key for the Rockets in their wins, and they got it again Thursday.

AliDoyle had 10 points and SarahCessar and Taylor Crocker each added eight.

Meadville, however, was decidedly unbalanced.

Toni Feilder scored 18 points and Victory Severo added 17. The rest of the team scored 13 points.

After her torrid first quarter, Kourtney Rhoads was hounded by the Bulldogs defense. She found other ways to help the Rockets, making key defensive stops and steals.

"Our goal is to hit Kourtney when she's open and have her score," Orris said. "Once they change their defense, Kourtney becomes our distributor and rebounder. Kourtney's defense has become almost to the point of being impressive, getting steals and getting in the lane.

"She's always been a scoring threat, but tonight she got some stuffs and blocked some shots."

MEADVILLE 48Victoria Severo 8-25 0-1 17, Emily Mottillo 0-5 2-2 2, Arianna Waid 1-8 3-7 5, Ashley Boyes 0-1 0-0 0, DaQueisha Epps 2-5 0-0 4, Alyssa Gerhart 1-2 0-0 2, Erica Chandler 0-1 0-0 0, Toni Feilder 7-21 4-7 18. Totals: 19-58 9-17 48

SLIPPERY ROCK 66Karly Rhoads 5-14 12-12 24, Ali Doyle 2-6 6-6 10, Kourtney Rhoads 4-10 0-0 10, Adele Campbell 2-3 1-1 5, Sarah Cessar 3-8 2-2 8, MollyWeitzel 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Crocker 3-6 0-0 8. Totals: 19-48 21-21 66

Meadville 11 14 9 12—48Slippery Rock 17 19 12 18—663-point goals: Severo; Karly Rhoads 2, KourtneyRhoads 2, Cessar, Crocker 2

JV: Meadville 33-25

Monday: Franklin at Slippery Rock