SLIPPERY ROCK — This game meant more than a pair of shorts.

Slippery Rock University women's basketball coach Laurel Heilman drilled that into her team before Saturday's game against Lock Haven at Morrow Field House.

Her players got the message.

SRU (12-12, 4-5) jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first four minutes and cruised to a 58-39 victory over the Bald Eagles. The win keeps The Rock in fourth place — the final available playoff position — in the PSAC West.

"One of our players lost a pair of uniform shorts before the game and we were talking about it in the locker room during pre-game," SRU senior point guard Amber McFeely said. "That's not where our focus needed to be and Coach let us know that.

"We knew how important this game was. The schedule favors us the rest of the way and we couldn't let this slip away."

The Rock began the day tied with Clarion and Lock Haven for the final PSAC West playoff berth. Clarion comes to Morrow Field House Wednesday.

"I'm never sure what we're thinking before a game," Heilman said. "It's hard for me to ever tell how our team is going to begin a game."

She need not have worried Saturday.

McFeeley and fellow senior Kristen Bonner drained 3-pointers during the 12-0 run to open the contest. And the team pulled away from there.

The Rock had a 27-11 lead at halftime and led by as many as 31 — 48-17 — with 10:57 left in the game. Nine SRU players scored in the first half alone and The Rock bench outscored Lock Haven's, 23-3.

The Bald Eagles (14-8, 3-6) played without leading scorer Ginger Williams (12.2 ppg.), who did not suit up because of an injury.

"Take anybody's leading scorer out of the mix and it's going to disrupt their offense a little bit," Heilman said.

"We haven't had a lot of big leads this year, but you never feel comfortable. We had a 21-9 lead at California and let it slip away. That's a game we should have had … In a way, it's still haunting us."

Some of those demons may have been exorcised Saturday.

Lock Haven generated only four assists as a team all day — McFeeley had nine for SRU — and its 39 points marked a season-low. The Bald Eagles entered the day averaging 66.5 points per game.

SRU is allowing a PSAC-best 58 points per contest.

"They clearly missed Ginger Williams, but our defense was good," McFeeley said. "We like to disrupt things and pressure the ball. Their offense never got into any kind of flow."

KellyAnn Staudinger paced The Rock with 10 points and six rebounds off the bench. McFeeley and Amanda Chojnacki had nine points each.

With four games left in the regular season, SRU still doesn't have a player averaging in double figures. Chojnacki leads the squad with 9.3 points per game.

Elizabeth Gabrielle and Shameka Lee led Lock Haven with 10 points each.

LOCK HAVEN (39)

Elizabeth Gabrielle 4-9 1-2 10, Kristy Shadduck 3-10 3-4 9, Shameka Lee 4-10 2-5 10, Candace Sillers 1-4 0-0 2, Ilia Lopez 1-7 3-6 5, Lauren Kelshaw 1-3 0-0 3, Caniece Montague 0-3 0-0 0, Connie Derzack 0-2 0-0 0, Evelyn Wynn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-48 9-17 39.

SLIPPERY ROCK (58)

Amber McFeely 1-3 2-2 5, Angela Greaser 3-5 2-2 9, Amanda Chojnacki 3-7 3-4 9, Kristen Bonner 2-5 0-0 6, Jessica Schake 2-4 2-3 6, Amanda Nero 0-2 0-0 0, Alissa Schake 0-1 0-0 0, Jess Caso 1-4 0-0 2, Dana Stewart 1-3 0-0 2, Amanda Kaufman 1-2 0-0 2, Cathy Lee Peffer 2-3 0-0 5, KellyAnn Staudinger 5-8 0-0 10, Jess DiSante 0-0 0-0 0, Deandra Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Stephanie Schwartz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-49 9-11 58.

Halftime — SRU, 27-11. 3-point goals — Lock Haven 2-11 (Gabrielle 1-4, Lopez 0-3, Kelshaw 1-3, Derzack 0-1), SRU 5-13 (McFeely 1-3, Greaser 1-2, Chojnacki 0-1, Bonner 2-5, Caso 0-1, Peffer 1-1). Rebounds — Lock Haven 29 (Lee 8), SRU 39 (Staudinger 6). Assists — Lock Haven 4 (Montague 2), SRU 18 (McFeely 9). Total fouls — Lock Haven 12, SRU 20. Fouled out — none; Technical fouls — none.