Box Score
Nicole Corcoran, Victoria Moreland, and freshman Madison Kollar combined to make 12 of Pitt-Johnstown's 14 3-pointers to help the Lady Cat basketball team hold off a late Shaw (NC) University rally and hold off the 25-ranked Bears, 74-72 in Friday's season-opener at the Shepherd (WV) University Conference Challenge.
 
Corcoran's 15 points on 5-12 shooting from 3-point range led five Pitt-Johnstown players who scored in double figures. Laurel O'Barto had 13 points, five rebounds and eight assists, while Moreland had 14 points (4 3-pointers), seven rebounds, and five assists. The Lady Cats also got 13 points and seven rebounds from Jamie Tabon and 11 points (3-4 3-pointers) from Kollar.  Olivia McCabe, who battled foul trouble all afternoon, finished with four points and seven rebounds for Pitt-Johnstown.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, which made eight of its 14 3-pointers in the first half, came out and hit four in the first five minutes, including three from Moreland, to race out to a 16-3 first quarter lead.  Shaw got back in it with a 12-3 run over the next four minutes, capped by two Caresha Leonard free-throws, to cut it to four, but a O'Barto lay-up, followed by a Tabon put-back, put the Lady Cats in front, 23-15.
 
A basket from Kollar, and a jumper in the paint by Karington Ketterer to open the second quarter got Pitt-Johnstown's lead back into double figures at 28-17.  The Bears scored the next six to cut it to five, but Corcoran knocked down a 3-pointer on the Lady Cats' next possession, before Corcoran hit another 3-pointer as time expired give Pitt-Johnstown a 38-29 halftime advantage.
 
Two more 3-pointers from Corcoran in the first two minutes of the third quarter made it 46-33 to match Pitt-Johnstown's 13-point first quarter lead.  Shaw hit four 3-pointers of its own and got a basket from Stephanie Custodio in an 18-7 run that narrowed it to 53-51 with 3:24 left in the quarter.  However, the Lady Cats outscored Shaw 10-3 the rest of the way and got a 3-pointer from Kollar with three seconds on the clock to take a 63-54 lead going into the fourth quarter.
 
Pitt-Johnstown held the momentum and got back-to-back 3-pointers from Kollar to make it 70-57 with 7:31 to play.  The Bears battled back to make it a two-point game at 74-72 with 10 seconds left on two Brianna
Washington free-throws, but the Lady Cats were able to hold on for the two-point upset.
 
The Lady Cats, who held a 46-37 advantage in rebounding, shot 41.1% (30-73) from the field, 14-31 from 3-point range, and 0-3 from the free-throw line.  Shaw ended the day shooting 41.4% (24-48) from the floor, 7-20 from behind the 3-point line, and 17-25 from the charity stripe.
 
Chelsea Long led all scorers and four Bears who scored in double figures with 23 points and seven rebounds.  Brianna Maxwell had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Felicia Cabral finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Custodio chipped-in 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Lady Cats close out the Shepherd Classic on Saturday against Winston Salem State at 1 p.m., before opening PSAC play at Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg next weekend.  Pitt-Johnstown will make its 2016-17 debut with conference doubleheaders with the Mountain Cats in the Sports Center against Kutztown on December 3 and Mansfield on December 4.