SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Freshman guard
Kiera Baughman put up her first career double-double to help lead the IUP women's basketball team to a 67-58 win over Slippery Rock at Morrow Field House Saturday afternoon.
Baughman finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, adding five assists and two steals in 37 minutes. She's the first IUP freshman guard since Carolyn Appleby (2016) to record a double-double.
This was the third road game in six days for the Crimson Hawks, who improved to 15-5 overall and 9-5 in the PSAC. The Hawks are 6-3 away from home this year. Slippery Rock fell to 10-9 and 5-8.
How it happened
The Hawks took an early 9-3 lead in the first and went on top 16-10 after the opening 10 minutes. Five different players scored for IUP in the first quarter, with Baughman and junior guard
Rajah Fink each scoring five points.
IUP's lead closed to one at 20-19 at the 5:42 mark of the second half but the Hawks responded with a 10-4 run to take a 30-23 lead into the break. The IUP defense held The Rock scoreless for more than three minutes as they went 2-of-10 from the field over the final five minutes of the half.
The Hawks took their lead to double-figures early in the third on back-to-back buckets by Fink, who scored eight points in the third quarter alone. Again SRU rallied, making it a 39-36 game before IUP rattled off eight straight points as a jumper from Baughman made it 47-36 near the end of the frame.
The momentum continued into the fourth as the Hawks outscored SRU by 14 points over an 8:28 span to take a 61-44 lead with 5:31 to play. The Rock grabbed that momentum back, going on a 14-2 run over the next 3:28 to cut the IUP lead to 63-58 with 1:58 left. That's where it ended for The Rock as IUP went 4-of-4 at the foul line and limited SRU to just two more (failed) field goal attempts in the final two minutes to come out on top.
SRU made eight 3-pointers but had to take 31 shots from beyond the arc. IUP limited SRU to 35.4 percent shooting and owned a +4 advantage on the boards despite 17 rebounds by The Rock's Jamiyah Johnson.
Who stood out
Fink led all scorers with 19 points, going 8-of-16 from the field with a 3-pointer and 2-of-2 at the foul line. She added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Last week's PSAC West Athlete of the Week is averaging a team-best 15.9 points with a 52.1 field goal percentage over the last eight games.
The 15 points for Baughman was the 12th double-figure performance of the season. The 10 rebounds is also a career-high.
Freshman forward
Gina Adams came off the bench to score 10 points and grab seven rebounds in 26 minutes.
Notes
Head coach
Tom McConnell improved to 15-0 lifetime against Slippery Rock, including 8-0 at Morrow Field House ... IUP committed a season-low in turnovers for the second straight game, giving up just eight on Saturday ... With 207 points in 20 games this year, Baughman is already the highest-scoring freshman in the McConnell era (2013-present).
Up next
The Crimson Hawks play their four road game in eight days when they head to Erie Monday to face Mercyhurst (7-13, 5-9 PSAC). Tipoff is 5:30 p.m.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.
