Box Score
Pitt-Johnstown ran out to a 14-0 lead and never trailed in a 67-62 PSAC Western Division victory over Mercyhurst University, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center. Jasmine harper and
Kelsey Sleighter each scored 13 points for the Lady Cats, who improved to 7-11 overall and 4-4 in conference-play.
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The Lady Cats jumped on Mercyhurt early and held the Lakers scoreless for the first seven minutes.
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Harper scored six points in the 14-0 Pitt-Johnstown run to start the game, but the Lakers recovered and battled all the way back to tie with 2:36 left in the first half.
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Alayna White's bucket at 13:04 got the Lakers on the scoreboard and started a quick 6-0 spurt that cut it to six with 12:05 left.
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Kayla DeCriscio's 3-pointer at 6:19 pushed the Pitt-Johnstown lead back into double-digits at 25-14, but Mercyhurst responded with an 11-0 run to knot it at 25 on a Katie Fischer four minutes later.
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Pitt-Johnstown was able to rebound and take a 31-26 halftime lead on two Sleighter free-throws with 45 seconds to go.
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Nicole Carman's basket four minutes into the second half made it 39-31, before the Lady Cats were able to extend it to as many as 13 at 62-49 on
Inaya Stephenson's lay-up with 5:33 to play.
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Two free-throws from Mariah Penascino with 40 seconds left narrowed the Lakers' deficit to six, but it was too late, and Pitt-Johnstown was able to hold on for the five-point win.
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Harper and Sleighter each had 13 points and three rebounds to pace Pitt-Johnstown. Stephenson collected 10 points and five rebounds, and Carman had eight points and eight rebounds. The lady Cats also got nine points from
Leah Hansen and seven points and four rebounds from
Rachel Johnson in the victory.
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With her four rebounds, Johnson is tied with
Amy Kessler (1988, 92) for 20
th-place on the Lady Cat All-Time Rebounding List with 548. Johnson is 13 rebounds shy of
Teri Menett (1987-91) for 19
th place on the list.
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The Lady Cats ended the day shooting 41.7% (20-48) from the floor, 4-16 from 3-point range, and 23-31 from the free-throw line. Mercyhurst, which out-rebounded Pitt-Johnstown by 18, was held to just 28.8% (17-59) shooting for the game. The Lakers hit 3-10 from behind the 3-point line and 25-37 from the charity stripe.
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White had a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Penascino's tallied 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Mercyhurst. With the loss, the Lakers dropped to 6-12 overall and 4-4 in the PSAC West.
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The Lady Cats host a conference doubleheader with the Mountain Cats against IUP on Wednesday starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center, before traveling to Edinboro University for another conference game on February 1.
