The Mercyhurst women’s basketball team beat out Slippery Rock Saturday afternoon, 82-75.

After struggling during the first half and falling to 44-34 at halftime, the Lakers bounced back on the court with a record 48 points for the season in the final 20 minutes of the game on Saturday.

One player that is stepping up for her team on and off the court this season is Erie native and sophomore Adriennne Kloecker.

“I think that we have been improving as the season goes on. The game against IUP showed that we can beat any team at any moment, which we really needed. There have been way to many close games that went all the way down to the end, but we just couldn’t finish,” Kloecker said.

Kloecker currently holds the most points for the Lakers so far this season with 247 points and an average of 15.3, followed by senior Alayna White who has scored 229 points this season and averages 14.3.

When asked about their biggest challenge as a team this year Kloecker replied, “That we have so many new young players, the challenge was getting them to learn our system as fast as possible. We have three starting freshmen, and it has taken some time for all of us to learn how to play with each other. On the court as well as off the court there has to be trust and communication, which always takes time to develop, especially with so many new players.”

The Lakers currently lead PSAC in rebounding margin at plus-7.7 per game and have a record of 5-11 overall and are 3-3 in the PSAC.

“Our toughest matches have been Gannon, Edinboro, and IUP. All three of those teams have great athletes across the board. Yes, we beat IUP, but we also competed with Gannon and Edinboro ’til the end. I’m glad we have a second chance at each of them,” Kloecker said.

The Lakers will be matching up against Clarion University on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center at 5:30 p.m.