Box Score
The Lady Cats used a 22-3 first half run to build an 18-point advantage on their way to earning their first PSAC victory with a 98-81 win at Clarion University on Wednesday.Â
Kelsey Sleighter scored a career-high 26 points to lead Pitt-Johnstown, now 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the PSAC Western Division.
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Kayla DeCriscio knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers that erased a three-point Pitt-Johnstown deficit and gave the Lady Cats a 20-14 lead seven minutes into the game.
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Clarion came back to regain the lead 3:27 later on a Raven Jones basket, but Pitt-Johnstown answered and took control the rest of the half.
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Sleighter and
Inaya Stephenson combined for 15 points, before a
Jasmine Harper free-throw capped a 22-3 Lady Cat to run to put Pitt-Johnstown in front 44-26 with 2:22 left in the half.
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Clarion scored the next six points to cut it to 12, but
Olivia Rizzo followed with a 3-pointer of her own that helped the Lady Cats go into the halftime break up 47-34.
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Eight unanswered points to start the second half extended the Lady Cat lead to 21 at 55-34 on
Rachel Johnson's basket.
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Kelly Johnson's basket in the paint 3:19 later got the Golden Eagles' deficit down to 60-46, but Sleighter hit two 3-pointers and
Nicole Carman added another one to rebuilt the lead to 71-52 with 12:31 to play.
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Clarion countered with a 19-9 run to narrow the gap to 80-71 on Delrica Jones-Carey's bucket at 6:07, but Pitt-Johnstown would not let the Golden Eagles get any closer, and went on to the 17-point win.
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Sleighter's 26 points and six rebounds led five Lady Cats who scored in double figures. Decriscio finished with 19 points and
Leah Hansen had 12 points. Pitt-Johnstown also got 11 points and 13 rebounds from Harper and 10 points and 12 rebounds from Carman in the victory.
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Rachel Johnson, who grabbed five rebounds, currently stands in 26
th place on the Lady Cat All-Time Rebounding List with 488 rebounds, one shy of Melissa Park (1999-02) for 25th-place.
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Pitt-Johnstown, which held an lopsided 51-34 advantage on the glass, shot 53.1% (34-64) with 12 3-pointers. The Lady Cats also hit 18-28 from the free-throw line. Clarion was held to just 39.2% (29-74) shooting, including just 1-11 from behind the 3-point line. The Golden Eagles were also 20-28 from the charity stripe.
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Johnson scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down seven rebounds, and Tania Holmes added 11 points for the Golden Eagles, who dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the PSAC West.
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The Lady Cats host a PSAC doubleheader with the Mountain Cats against Slippery Rock University on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center, before hosting doubleheaders with the men's team against Shippensburg University on December 17 and Kutztown University 18 starting at 5:30 p.m.