Women's Basketball 6/18/2013 10:43:00 AM

Lady Cats Fall to WV State on Senior Day

02/19/2011

Andrea Dalton (Washington, Pa.) score 30 points, and Sheena Aden (Sandy Lake, Pa.) added 23 points, but West Virginia State University battled back from a 10-point second half deficit and outscored the Lady Cats 8-3 down the stretch to hand Pitt-Johnstown a 74-72 Senior Day loss on Saturday in the Sports Center. The Lady Cats had their six-game winning streak snapped and slipped to 15-9 overall and 13-7 in the WVIAC.
Dalton's basket in the paint gave the Lady Cats a 69-66 lead with 2:30 left. The Yellow Jackets scored seven straight to go up 73-69 with 23 second on the clock. Dalton hit a three-pointer with 12 second to make it 73-71. After Avery Hale hit one of two free-throws to put West Virginia State up 74-72 with seven second remaining, Dalton had one more look, but her shot at the buzzer wouldn't fall, and the Yellow Jackets held on for the win..
West Virginia State ran out to a 7-0 lead 1:39 into the game on Melissa Ford's driving lay-up, but Pitt-Johnstown answered with a 23-8 run over the next 10 minutes.
Inaya Stephenson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) provided a spark off the Lady Cat bench. Stephenson scored six points and pulled down seven rebounds in nine first half minutes, including rebound and put-back at 13:24 gave the Lady Cats their first lead of the afternoon at 13-11.
Two of Aden's 14 first half points made it a four-point game, before Dalton scored the next six for Pitt-Johnstown to extend the margin 23-15 at the 8:17 mark.
Another Ford basket with 3:49 left in the half cut the Yellow Jackets' deficit to 26-24.
The Lady Cats pushed it back out to six at 33-37 on Rachel Johnson's (Palmyra, Pa.) bucket two minutes before taking a 36-31 halftime lead.
Chelsey Davis' short jumper got West Virginia State to within two for the third time in the first four minutes of the second half, but Pitt-Johnstown outscored the Yellow Jackets 10-2 over the next 3:20 to take the lead into double-digits at 55-45 on Sara Trimarco's (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) three-pointer.
West Virginia State answered with an 11-1 run to tie it at 56 on Ford's basket at 8:19, but Dalton hit a three-pointer on the next trip down to floor to put the Lady Cats back in front.
The Yellow Jackets battled all the way back to regain the lead 62-61 on a pair of Hale free-throws with 5:28 to play.
West Virginia pushed it out to 64-61 on Davis' lay-up at 4:29, but Aden's bucket and free-throw quickly tied it, and and Dalton's basket made it 69-66, but West Virginia State outscored Pitt-Johnstown 8-3 down the stretch to seal the win.
Dalton led all scorers with 30 points on 11-21 shooting from the floor, 4-9 from three-point range, and 4-6 from the free-throw line. Dalton also pulled down eight rebounds, while Aden finished with 23 points on 8-10 shooting and four rebounds. Stephenson had eight points and eight rebounds, and Johnson chipped in five points off the bench.
Aden stands in fifth-place on the Lady Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,534 points, and 19th on the all-time rebounding list with 554 rebounds, while Dalton is 14th on the scoring list with 1,334 points and 17th on the rebounding list with 574.
The Lady Cats, who held a 37-30 advantage in rebounding, shot 46.6% (27-58) from the floor, 7-17 from three-point range and 11-15 from the charity stripe. West Virginia State shot 45.0% (27-60) from the field, 3-8 from behind the three-point line and 17-22 from the charity stripe.
Ford's 18 points and eight rebounds led four West Virginia State players who scored in double-figures. Hale added 15, while Janelle Williams and Davis had 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Yellow Jackets, who improved to 10-16 overall and 8-12 in the WVIAC.
Prior to the game, Pitt-Johnstown recognized this year seniors, Sheena Aden, Andrea Dalton, and Kelly and Stacy Goode (Cincinnati, OH).
The Lady Cats will host a doubleheader with the Mountain Cats against West Virginia Wesleyan College on Wednesday starting at 6 p.m., before wrapping-up the regular season at Seton Hill University on Saturday.

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