1 down, 1 to go
SLIPPERY ROCK — Just call it Separation Saturday.
By defeating California (Pa.) 74-58 Wednesday night at Morrow Field House, the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team has the opportunity to solidify its PSACplayoff chances Saturday.
The Rock (13-7, 4-3) entered Wednesday's action tied with California and Mercyhurst for the fourth and final playoff berth in the PSACWest. SRUhosts Mercyhurst Saturday.
"Both of those games are big this week,"SRUcoach Kevin Reynolds said. "We got the first one. Now we need to go get the second."
Denell Stephens was a big reason why The Rock got the first one. The 6-foot-3 senior guard recorded 29 points and 12 rebounds, scoring 18 points in the second half.
"We've got a chance to separate ourselves from those other two teams,"Stephens said. "Both games are home games and we can't miss this opportunity."
SRUtook the lead for good Wednesday when a Maron Brown layup snapped a 17-17 tie with 11:45 left in the first half. The final score was The Rock's biggest lead of the night.
Brown scored 13 of SRU's first 24 points, but got into foul trouble and didn't score in the second half. California (10-9, 3-4) pulled to within 32-28 with 4:30 left in the first half before The Rock scored the half's final nine points.
Stephens slammed home a lob pass from Kyle Camper and stuck back an offensive rebound during the surge.
"We had a lot of people in the stands tonight and I know our team derives a lot of energy when I slam one down,"Stephens said. "Plays like that give us fuel to play defense."
The Rock lacked defense last Saturday, watching Indiana (Pa.) shoot 58 percent from the floor and score 94 points.
"That's not us," Reynolds said. "We committed hard on defense tonight and it paid off."
Butler graduate Jade Burka played nine minutes in the second half with Brown and Gary Satterwhite on the bench with four fouls each. He contributed four points, three rebounds and blocked a shot."Jade gave us quality minutes when we needed them,"Reynolds said. "Every player has to be ready at all times and he was."Camper had 12 assists, pulling himself within 42 of breaking Brent Schrempf's single-season school record of 259. SRUhas seven regular season games remaining.Women<B>California (Pa.) 88, Slippery Rock 71 — </B>All five Vulcan starters scored in double figures, led by Brooque Williams' 33 points and 12 rebounds. Williams leads the PSACin scoring.California (18-2, 7-0), ranked No. 2 in NCAADivision II, never trailed.SRU (7-13, 2-5) suffered 26 turnovers, including 17 in the first half."You can't score if you don't get a chance to shoot the ball,"Rock coach Laurel Heilman said. "We know how quick and athletic Cal is defensively, but a lot of those errors were unforced."The Rock trimmed an 11-point deficit to five with 8:15 left in the first half, only to find itself trailing by 16 by halftime."Inconsistency has been our problem,"Heilman said. "When everyone brings her 'A' game, I believe we can play with anybody in this league. But we only seem to play well in spurts."Amanda Nero paced four Rock players in double figures with 18 points. Jess Schake added 16, Nikki Presto 13 and Sasha Sales 12 points and eight rebounds."Cal is 16-0 when it outrebounds the opposition and we outrebounded them,"Heilman said. "We were lacking in other areas."Grove City product Julie Molloy played only 17 minutes and did not score, attempting just one field goal."Julie is a very talented player and I expect more from her," Heilman said. "I need more from her."<B>Men's BoxCALIFORNIA (Pa.) 58Kelsey Williams 6-16 9-14 21, Jesse Brooks 3-5 0-2 7, Joe Berenato 1-6 0-0 3, Julian Logan 2-7 0-2 4, Tanyen Pearson 4-8 0-0 8, Chad Tipton 0-2 0-0 0, Kenny Johnson 2-4 2-2 6, Jerial Nixon 3-9 0-0 8, Chris Moore 0-0 0-0 0. </B>Totals: 21-57 11-20 58<B>SLIPPERY ROCK 74Kyle Camper 2-9 1-2 5, Maurice Douglas 3-10 0-0 8, Michael Evans Jr. 5-10 0-0 11, Maron Brown 7-12 0-1 15, Denell Stephens 12-16 4-7 29, Gary Satterwhite 0-0 0-0 0, Jamar Scales 1-2 0-0 2, Erroll Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Jade Burka 1-1 2-2 4.</B> Totals: 31-60 7-12 74<B>Halftime score: </B>SRU 41-28.<B> 3-point goals:</B> Brooks, Berenato, Johnson, Nixon 2; Douglas 2, Evans Jr., Brown, Stephens<B>Saturday:</B> Mercyhurst at Slippery Rock, 3 p.m.<B>Women's BoxCALIFORNIA (Pa.) 88Lindsay Johnson 5-10 2-2 13, Brooque Williams 15-22 3-4 33, Crystal Andrews 4-11 0-0 10, Amber Dubyak 3-5 2-2 11, Kayla Smith 6-11 4-5 17, Danielle Luckett 0-0 0-0 0, Alyse Washington 1-1 0-1 2, Shaquetta Mance 1-2 0-0 2, Jackie Sauer 0-1 0-0 0, Kara Waltenbaugh 0-1 0-0 0. </B>Totals: 35-64 11-14 88<B>SLIPPERY ROCK 71Amanda Nero 6-11 4-4 18, Nikki Presto 6-8 0-0 13, Haley Gaidosh 2-4 2-2 6, Jess Schake 6-11 4-4 16, Sasha Sales 6-9 0-0 12, Julie Molloy 0-1 0-0 0, Sandra Busser 2-3 0-0 4, Alissa Schake 1-3 0-0 2, Robin Vlah 0-1 0-0 0, Chere' Marshall 0-3 0-0 0, Grace Palucis 0-2 0-0 0.</B> Totals: 29-56 10-10 71<B>Halftime score: </B>Cal 47-31.<B> 3-point goals:</B> Johnson, Andrews 2, Dubyak 3, Smith; Nero 2, Presto<B>Saturday:</B> Mercyhurst at Slippery Rock, 1 p.m.
