SLIPPERY ROCK — First-year Slippery Rock University women’s basketball coach Tanya Longo stood in front of the bench with her arms crossed.

Longo didn’t say much. She just watched the action with deep focus.

“This entire season is about evaluation,” Longo said after The Rock fell behind 15-7 early to Tiffin (Ohio) and trailed by as many as 28 points in the second half in a 67-42 season-opening loss at Morrow Field House Monday night.

“There are obviously a lot of things we need to work on,” Longo added. “Those things were very, very exposed today.”

Longo was hired in May after spending nine seasons as an assistant coach at the Division I level.

What she saw from her team Monday showed the program is very much still under construction.

SRU shot just 35 percent from the floor, was outrebounded and committed 22 turnovers to only seven for Tiffin.

The Rock had no one score in double digits; Shannon Lee led SRU with nine points.

“From the beginning I spelled it out,” Longo said. “This is going to be a journey. This isn’t going to be easy, It’s not for the faint of heart. It really is going to be about who has a championship mentality. Clearly, right now, we don’t fully understand what it takes to truly be a champion.”

Tiffin already looked in top form.

Coming off a 7-20 season that included a season-opening win against The Rock last year, the Dragons had a balanced scoring night.

Karli Mast led Tiffin with 15 points, Jessica Harris added 10 and four other players had at least seven points.

Mandy Jaeb, who averaged nearly 20 points per game last season, had nine points.

To Tiffin coach Pam Oswald, that’s a good thing.

“The biggest thing I was pleased with was the fact we could sub and our bench was coming in with just as much momentum,” Oswald said. “We don’t have to feel like we need to rely on one person.”

There were some bright spots for The Rock.

Katelyn Griffin and Julie Byer came off the bench to combine for nine points in 15 minutes.

Despite falling behind by 28 points, SRU made a run with those two players on the court.

Longo said no one is assured of a starting spot or playing time. The lineup will be very fluid.

“That would probably be a good way of putting it,” Longo said.

“Really, our goal is to get better every day,” Longo added. “If we do that, we’ll be able to make progress, even if it is baby steps.”

TIFFIN 67Jessica Harris 4-8 2-3 10, Holly Focke 2-6 0-0 4, Mandy Jaeb 3-10 1-2 9, Karli Mast 6-15 2-2 15, Jennifer Johnston 2-11 2-2 7, Deidra Brown 3-4 1-1 8, Stephanie Kelly 1-3 0-0 3, Amanda Baute 1-2 0-1 2, Melissa Gilliland 4-7 0-0 9, Mary Kate Campbell 0-4 0-0 0, Jillian Adams 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 26-71 8-11 67.

SRU 42Grace Palucis 1-4 0-0 2, Danielle Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Bethany Caudill 2-7 0-0 5, Shannon Lee 3-6 2-2 9, Alex Beatty 3-13 2-2 8, Lyndsy Day 0-0 0-0 0, Katelyn Griffin 2-3 0-0 5, Julie Byer 2-3 0-0 4, Sherita Stanley 1-2 0-0 1, Libby Gerstel 1-3 0-0 3, Emilee Vitez 0-4 0-0 0.

Totals: 17-49 4-4 42.

Halftime score: Tiffin 37-21

3-point goals: Tiffin 7 (Jaeb 2, Mast, Johnston, Brown, Kelly, Gilliland); SRU 4 (Caudill, Lee, Griffin, Gerstel).