Lady Cats Fall 73-49 to East Region #3 West Liberty State

02/11/2008

West Liberty State (WV) College, ranked #3 in the East Region, dominated on the boards and broke open a nine-point halftime lead and went on to defeat the Lady Cats 73-49, Monday night in the Sports Center. Krista Britcher's (Johnstown, Pa.) 14 points led the way for Pitt Johnstown, which fell to 9-14 overall and 8-8 in the WVIAC.
The Lady Hilltoppers climbed out to an 11-point lead at the 11:41 mark of the first half, before taking a 31-22 halftime lead. Pitt Johnstown battled back to cut the lead to 42-39 with 14:01 to play, but West Liberty State closed out the game on a 31-10 run to hand the Lady Cats a 24-point loss.
Britcher ended the night with 14 points on 7-18 shooting, while Qiuana Brown (Monroeville, Pa.) scored 12 points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Head Coach Sasha Palmer also got eight points and five rebounds from Sheena Aden (Sandy Lake, Pa.) and six points, five rebounds and five assists from Lindsay Cale (Hummelstown, Pa.) in the loss.
Pitt Johnstown struggled from the field, hitting just 36.7% (22-60) of its shots and 1-13 from three-point range. The Lady Cats made four of their five free-throws. The Hilltoppers shot 29-65 (44.6%) from the field, made seven three-pointer and eight of their 10 free-throws. West Liberty State also dominated on the boards, out rebounding Pitt Johnstown 49-26, including holding a 19-9 advantage on the offensive glass.
Tori Hansen lead five West Liberty State players who scored in double figures with 16 points. Lauren Russell scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds, while Julie Cessna chipped in 12 points. The Hilltoppers also got 11 points from Cassie Smith and 10 points and eight assists from Lisa Perry. Evelyn Woods collected eight points and 11 rebounds for the Hilltoppers, who improved to 19-4 overall and 13-3 in conference play.
The Lady Cats travel to Ohio Valley (WV) University on Thursday, before returning home to host Fairmont State (WV) University and celebrate Senior Night and Alumni Day on Saturday, as part of a WVIAC doubleheader with the Mountain Cats. The Lady Cats will play tip-off at 5:30 p.m., with the men's game to follow at 7:30 p.m.

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