Women's Basketball 6/18/2013 10:39:00 AM

Lady Cats Storm Back to Defeat Atlatnic Region No. 1 West Liberty

02/10/2011

The Lady Cats stormed back from a 14-point deficit with a 17-1 run over the final five minutes to earn a 77-75 victory at Atlantic Region No. 1-ranked West Liberty (WV) University on Thursday. Sheena Aden (Sandy Lake, Pa.) and Andrea Dalton (Washington, Pa.) combined for 59 points to help Pitt-Johnstown make it nine wins in their last 10 games and improve to 13-8 overall and 11-6 in the WVIAC.
West Liberty built a 70-56 lead on Meghan Wiseman's bucket with just under five minutes left, before the Lady Cats scored 17 of the final 18 points to secure the upset. Dalton tied it at 75 with 24 seconds, before adding another bucket in the paint off of a Hilltopper turnover with nine seconds on the clock to give Pitt-Johnstown with win.
The Lady Cats got four quick points from Dalton and jumped out to an 11-5 lead four minutes into the game on a Kelly Goode (Cincinnati, OH) three-pointer. Pitt-Johnstown was able to hold onto the lead the rest of the first half.
West Liberty pulled to within one at 16-15 on Jenni Robbins' three-pointer, but Pitt-Johnstown used a 10-2 run over the next 4:46, capped by Aden's basket in the paint, to built its largest lead of the half at 26-17.
The Hilltoppers battled back, sparked by eight points from Tori Hansen, to outscore the Lady Cats 16-9 run over the final 6:40 to cut the deficit to 35-33 at the half.
Kayla Loughner (Brinklow, MD) and Aden hit back-to-back buckets to open the second half and push the Pitt-Johnstown advantage to 39-33, but West Liberty connected on a pair of three-pointers and a jumper by Wiseman to take its first lead of the night at 41-39 at 17:55.
Dalton tied it for the Lady Cats the next trip down the court, but the Hilltoppers continued on their 20-10 run to start the half and build a 53-45 lead on Hansen's basket at 13:30.
West Liberty built the lead to 14, before the Lady Cats stormed back.
Aden scored 31 points and Dalton added 28 to account for 59 of Pitt-Johnstown's 77 points. Dalton also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, while Aden, Goode and Sara Trimarco (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) all pulled down six rebounds for the Lady Cats.
Aden stands in eighth-place on the Lady Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,475 points, and 20th on the all-time rebounding list with 538 rebounds, while Dalton is 15th on the scoring list with 1,265 points and tied with Amy Kessler (1988-92) for 18th on the rebounding list with 548.
Pitt-Johnstown shot 43% (33-76) from the field, 2-8 from three-point range, and 9-16 from the free-throw line. West Liberty ended the night shooting 46% (31-67) from the floor, 6-18 from behind the three-point line, and 7-13 from the charity stripe, including just 1-5 down the stretch.
Hansen scored 23 points and had 10 rebounds, and Wiseman collected 23 points and six rebounds for the Hilltoppers, who had their six-game winning streak snapped. West Liberty fell to 19-4 overall and 14-3 in the WVIAC.
The Lady Cats will host their final four regular season home games of the season beginning with a doubleheader with the Mountain Cats against Alderson-Broaddus (WV) College for Breast Cancer Awareness Day on Saturday. The Lady Cats will tip-off at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at 4 p.m. The Lady Cats will also host Shepherd (WV) University on Thursday starting at 6 p.m.

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