SLIPPERY ROCK — Committing 24 turnovers and having two of your best players in foul trouble isn’t exactly a recipe for victory.

Slippery Rock cooked up a win regardless.

Never trailing in the game and never leading by more than eight opoints all night, the Rockets fought their way gto a 46-39 girls basketball triumph over Cochranton on Monday night in the SR gym. It marked the team’s fifth straight victory.

“We hadn’t really faced much adversity before tonight,” Slippery Rock coach Jeff Steele said. “We’ve been winning games by comfortable margins. We hadn’t played with CJ (Sabo) on the bench for extended periods of time before.

“The girls came together on the floor, played hard and made it work.”

Sabo, a senior guard/forward and the Rockets’ leading scorer this season, played in foul trouble Monday, as did fellow starter Brielle Jordan. But junior guard Madison Romanovich and senior Belle Miller picked up the slack.

Romanovich tallied 21 points, 12 rebounds and a pair of assists for Slippery Rock (6-1) while Miller had 10 points and 12 boards.

“Madison plays an aggressive gme in getting to the basket,” Steele said. “I told her in the fourth quarter she was going to win this game for us at the foul line and that’s what she did.”

Romanovich scored the Rockets’ final seven points, three of them coming on free throws, after the Cardinals pulled within 39-35 with 3:44 remaining.

“Maybe a little bit,” Romanovich said of feeling like she had to pick up for her foul-plagued teammates in the game. “But I have confidence in all of my teammates. I figured w’d find a way to get this done.”

Cochranton (3-4) turned the ball over only 10 times, just once in the final quarter, but failed to convert on numerous opportunities in transition. The Cardinals sank 16 of 61 field goal attempts in the contest.

“They were more physical than we were in the first half,” Cochranton coach Dave Zamperini said. “I thought we did a better job of matching that physicality in th second half. We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket.”

Sabo had eight points, four rebounds and two assists in her limited minutes for the Rockets. The Cardinals did not have a player score in double figures. Macie Williams had nine points and six rebounds for Cochranton. Marcey Rodax tallied eight points, seven rebounds and three steals. Emily Pfeiffer eight points and seven rebouds, Abbi Custead four steals.

“I’m not that concerned about the turnovers,” Steele said. “We like to press and play at a fast pace, but (Cochranton) did a good job of getting the ball up the floor. I like us to get 70 to 80 possessions a game, score in the 60s or 70s.

“Tonight, we were forced into a different game. I thougtt we adjusted well.”

Slippery Rock will play in the Lakeview Tournament this weekend, facing Karns City on Friday and Moniteau on Saturday.

COCHRANTON 39

Addi Custead 2-7 0-0 6, Macie Williams 4-14 1-2 9, Alaina Shorts 1-3 0-0 2, Eve Pfeiffer 2-17 4-6 8, Hannah Lyons 3-6 0-2 6, Jaidin Frayer 0-0 0-0 0, Karmyn Reese 0-0 0-0 0, Marcey Rodax 4-14 0-2 8. Totals: 16-61 5-11 39.

SLIPPERY ROCK 46

CJ Sabo 4-13 0-0 8, Brielle Jordan 2-8 1-2 5, Isabel Drake 0-3 0-0 0, Ryleigh Cornelius 0-0 0-0 0, Belle Miller 5-5 0-0 10, Madison Romanovich 8-15 5-7 21, Izzy Vukson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 20-45 6-10 46.

Cochranton 8 8 13 10 — 39

Slippery Rock 13 11 12 10 — 46

3-point goals: Cochranton 2 (Custead 2), Slippery Rock 0

JV: Cochranton, 40-36 (C: Alaina Shorts 14, SR: Vanessa Hinkle 16)

Friday: Slippery Rock vs. Karns City in Lakeview Tournament