SALEM, West Virginia - In their return to T. Edward Davis Gymnasium after three straight away from home, the Salem women's basketball team played host to Slippery Rock this afternoon. It was an extremely tight contest throughout, but Salem was undone by a late run by The Rock that resulted in a tough 69-59 loss. 

To open the contest, Salem got some uncharacteristic strong outside shooting from Liliani Krause. Slippery Rock responded with some tight defensive play, and the game settled into a 13-13 gridlock after the first quarter. 

In the second, Salem again tried to get the three point shooting going behind big makes from Carine Pinkney and Cassandra Smith. However, Slippery Rock battled back with some hot shooting of their own, and we went into the half with another even scoreline at 25-25. 

Coming out of the intermission, the Tigers had a tough time getting the offensive flow going, and Slippery Rock jumped out to a 45-38 lead late in the period. 

In the fourth, Salem launched a big comeback bid, and whittled The Rock's lead down to just 4 at 55-51 behind some strong shooting from Taja Stephens. Unfortunately, that is where the furious comeback effort fizzled out, and Slippery Rock pulled away with the 69-59 win over Salem. 

Statistically, Salem was led by 3 familiar names scoring in double figures. Liliani Krause and Carine Pinkney tied for the team lead in scoring with 19 points each. Cassandra Smith finished just behind them with 15 points.

The Tigers will not have much time to regroup ahead of their next contest. They will host the Walsh Cavaliers on Sunday, November 17th at 1 PM here in Salem, West Virginia.