Gabrielle Smith scored 20 points to lead four Pitt-Johnstown double figure scorers, but Wheeling Jesuit (WV) University turned a 10-point second quarter deficit into a 13-point four quarter lead on its way to a 75-69 non-conference victory over the Cats, Tuesday night in the Sports Center. Pitt-Johnstown had its four-game winning streak snapped and slipped to 7-3.
Tori Moreland's 3-pointer five minutes in put Pitt-Johnstown in front 10-5, before a layup from Smith and a 3-pointer from
Alexis Hartwick with 29 second left in the opening quarter gave the Cats a 20-12 lead.
Pitt-Johnstown increased it to 22-12 to start the second quarter, but Wheeling Jesuit answered with a 12-0 over the next 2:33, capped by Chenelle Moore's bucket a Mariah Callen's 3-pointer to regain the lead, 24-22.
It stayed close the rest of the half and the Cardinals took a 35-32 advantage into break on Monica's Burns' bucket with time running down.
Wheeling Jesuit kept the momentum to start the second half and outscored Pitt-Johnstown 14-5 over the first five minutes of the third quarter to build its lead to 10 at 49-39 on a pair of free-throws from Burns and Moore's basket in the paint.
Smith's free-throws at 1:18 got the Cats to within four, but Lauren Lipscomb connected on a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining in the quarter to get the Cardinals' lead back out to seven.
Another basket from Burns with 3:46 to play gave Wheeling Jesuit its largest lead of the night at 65-52
Pitt-Johnstown clawed back to within four on three occasions, with the last coming with 11 seconds left on
Nicole Olkosky's short jumper. However, Burns hit six straight free-throws in the last 25 seconds to keep Wheeling Jesuit in the lead and preserve the six-point victory.
Smith's 20 points, including 10-12 from the free-throw line led Pitt-Johnstown. Moreland had 13 points, while
Alexis Harris and Hartwick each scored 10 points. McCabe finished with nine points and seven rebounds, and
Maurina Nunn grabbed seven rebounds.
With her seven rebounds, McCabe currently stands in 15
th-place on the Pitt-Johnstown Rebounding with 665 rebounds. McCabe is also 43 points shy of becoming Pitt-Johnstown's 37
th 1,000-point scorer.
Pitt-Johnstown ended the night shooting 38.3% (23-60) from the field, 6-21 from 3-point range, and 17-20 from the free-throw line. The Cardinals shot 51.0% (25-49) from the floor, 6-11 from behind the 3-point line and 19-21 from the charity stripe.
Callen led all scorers with 25 points and four Wheeling Jesuit players who scored in double figures. Burns (20 points), Moore (12 points), and Lipscomb (10 points) also scored in double figures for the Cardinals, who improved to 4-6 on the year.
Following the holidays, Pitt-Johnstown will travel to Clarion for a PSAC game on December 30, before hosting conference doubleheaders with the Mountain Cats against IUP on January 3 and Gannon on January 6.
