Women's Basketball 6/18/2013 11:00:00 AM

Baker Scores 38 in Lady Cats' Win Over West Liberty

12/01/2009

Monae Baker (Bushkill, Pa.) scored a career-high 38 points, including 14 points in the first half to help the Lady Cat basketball team build a 15-point lead, on its way to earning a 77-63 victory over WVIAC foe West Liberty (WV) University, Tuesday night in the Sports Center. The Lady Cats made it two straight wins and improved to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Pitt-Johnstown jumped on the Hilltoppers and took control early. Baker scored 14 points and Sheena Aden (Sandy Lake, Pa.) added 10 points in the first 13 minutes to help the Lady Cats run out to a 29-14 lead.
A pair of free-throws by Kayla Akers made it 29-16, before Maria Montini's (Irwin, Pa.) three-pointer from the corner gave Pitt-Johnstown its largest lead of the half at 32-16 with 3:45 remaining.
However, the Hilltoppers scored the next eight points, capped by Tori Hansen's back-to-back lay-ups, to cut the deficit in half with :59 seconds. Baker's basket with :02 left stopped the run and gave the Lady Cats a 34-24 halftime advantage.
West Liberty battled back to pull within 52-48 midway through the second half, but a three-pointer from Baker and two free-throws from Aden pushed the lead back out to 13 with just under 6:00 to play. A minute later, Sara Trimarco (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) connected on a free-throw to give the Lady Cats their largest lead of the second half at 67-52.
The Hilltoppers never got the deficit under 10 points the rest of the way. Pitt- Johnstown sealed the victory by hitting 7-7 from the free-throw line, including 6-6 from Trimarco, down the stretch.
Baker finished the night shooting an impressive 16-22 from the field, 2-2 from three-point range and 4-7 from the free-throw line. Baker also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds. Aden was the only other Lady Cat to score in double-figures. She ended with 18 points on 6-8 shooting and 5-6 from the charity stripe. Trimarco had nine points and four assists, while Andrea Dalton (Washington, Pa.) and Aden each had five rebounds. Qiuana Brown (Monroeville, Pa.) had four rebounds and dished out a game-high seven assists, and Kelly Goode (Pleasant Plane, OH) chipped in five rebounds and six assists.
Hansen, who eclipsed the 1,000 career-point mark in the first half, led West Liberty with 27 points. Jenni Robbins had 18 points and five assists for the Hilltoppers, who dropped to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the WVIAC.
The Lady Cats travel to Slippery Rock University for a non-conference game on Tuesday, before finishing the first semester with a WVIAC game against Salem International (WV) University on Thursday, December 10 at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.

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