Box Score
Gannon erased a four-point halftime deficit with a 15-3 run to start the second half, and the Golden Knights went on to hold off the Lady Cats' 67-64, in Wednesday's PSAC match-up in the Sports Center.  Nicole Carman scored a game-high 24 points to lead Pitt-Johnstown, 9-6 overall and 6-5 in conference-play.
 
After a slow start, the Lady Cats clawed back from an eight-point deficit to take a four-point lead into the halftime break.
 
Gannon opened-up 20-12 advantage at the midway point of the first half on a McKenna Shives jumper, but Pitt-Johnstown answered with a 10-0 run, capped by two straight Carman 3-pointers, to retake the lead 22-20 with 5:42 left in the half.
 
It see-sawed back and forth the rest until Nicole Corcoran's 3-pointer gave the lead back to Pitt-Johnstown, and Carman's spinning lay-up as time expired made it 32-28 at the break.
 
Gannon came out in the second half on a 15-3 run, including scoring the first eight points of the half to build a 43-36 advantage on Mollie Sebald's basket at 1:44.
 
Jennie Thies' convention3-point play three minutes later extended the Golden Knights' lead to 11, before Pitt-Johnstown battled back to tie it at 62 with 1:21 to play.
 
Olivia Rizzo's rare 4-point play cut it four and a Kelsey Sleighter basket got the Lady Cats to within two at the 2:10 mark.  Carman then connected on a pair of free-throws that knotted it at 62.
 
However, the Lady Cats could not get over the hump.  Morgan Neighbors' lay-up and free-throw on Gannon's next possession put the Golden Knights in front for good.
 
Jasmine Harper's bucket with 29 seconds on the clock narrowed it to 65-64, but Sebald's came right back with a basket for the Golden Knights.  Pitt-Johnstown had a chance to tie it, but Carman's 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short and the Lady Cats suffered the 3-point loss.
 
Carman finished with 24 points on 9-14 shooting and eight rebounds, while Sleighter added 17 points to lead the Lady Cats.  Harper had nine points, and Rizzo added five points and five rebounds.
 
Carman is currently 26^th on the Lady Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,099 points and tied with Justine George (1993-97) and Andrea Dalton (2007-11) for 15^th on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Rebounding List with 611.  Harper ranks 27^th on the all-time rebounding list with 492 rebounds, while Sleighter is 27 points shy of becoming Pitt-Johnstown's 35^th 1,000-point scorer.
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot 46.8% (22-47) from the floor, but was out-rebounded 40-31, including 18-5 on the offensive glass.  Gannon turned those offensive rebounds into a 19-5 advantage in second chance points.  The Lady Cats were also 8-21 from 3-point range and 12-18 from the free-throw line.  The Golden Knights shots 39.1% (27-69) from the floor, 2-12 from behind the 3-point range, and 11-14 from the charity stripe.
 
Nettie Blake's double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds and Candice Hendricks' 12 points and six rebounds paced the Golden Knights, which improved to 11-4 overall and 10-2 in the PSAC.
 
The Lady Cats travel to conference games at Mercyhurst on Saturday and Indiana (PA) next Wednesday, before hosting a PSAC doubleheader with the Mountain Cats against Edinboro on January 24 starting at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center.