Lady Cats' Season Ends With 77-76 Overtime Loss to Wheeling Jesuit in First Round of WVIAC Tournament

02/25/2008

Head Coach Sasha Palmer and her Lady Cat basketball team had their season end in heartbreaking fashion when Lindsay Stuckey's three-pointer from the corner found the bottom of the net with :05 left in overtime to give Wheeling Jesuit (WV) University at 77-76 victory in Monday's first round of the 2008 WVIAC Tournament in the Sports Center. Lindsay Cale (Hummelstown, Pa.) scored 20 points to lead Pitt Johnstown, which finished with a 10-18 overall record and a 9-11 record in conference play.
The Lady Cats opened up a 16-8 lead 6:34 into the game, but the Lady Cardinals battled back to take 24-23 lead with 6:31 in the first half, before finishing the half with a 38-32 advantage. Pitt Johnstown started the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 39-38 lead. After six lead changes and six ties, Kim Mueller hit one of two free-throws to tie the game at 69-69 with :05 left in regulation and force overtime. In the extra period, Pitt Johnstown led 76-74, until Stuckey's three-pointer from the corner fell to give Wheeling Jesuit the victory.
Cale's 20 points on 7-14 shooting from the field and 5-5 from the free-throw line led four Lady Cats who scored in double figures. Cale also grabbed four rebounds and had five assists, while Jill Maurer (Johnstown, Pa.) added 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman Sheena Aden (Sandy Lake, Pa.) chipped in 15 points, four rebounds and five assists. Kristin Irwin (Bellefonte, Pa.) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13 points and five rebounds. Coach Palmer also got six rebounds and four assists from Chrissy Forster (Lewisberry, Pa.) in the loss.
Pitt Johnstown shot a season-best 53.8% (28-52) from the field and 45.5% (5-11) from behind the three-point line. The Lady Cats also went 15-16 from the free-throw line. The Cardinals ended the night shooting 44.9% (31-69) from the field with four three-pointers. Wheeling Jesuit was just 11-20 from the charity stripe.
Mueller's game-highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds led the way for Wheeling Jesuit. Stuckey (20 points) and Kristen King (15 points) also scored in double figures to help the Lady Cardinals improved to 11-17 and advance to Wednesday's WVIAC Quarterfinals against top-seeded Shepherd (WV) University at the Charleston (WV) Civic Center.

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