The Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team snapped a six-game losing streak Saturday afternoon, defeating the Mercyhurst University, 63-54, in PSAC-play, Saturday afternoon.  Gabrielle Smith scored a game-high 22-points and Olivia McCabe's added a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds to help the Cats improve to 8-8 overall and 5-6 in conference-play.
 
Mid-way through the first quarter Smith laid it up and in to give the Cats an, 11-6 lead.  Pitt-Johnstown continued to extend their lead when Smith got into the lane and was fouled by Jamaya Shabazz.  Smith knocked down both free-throws to put Pitt-Johnstown up 20-12 to end the first quarter.
 
Early in the second quarter, the Lakers cut into the lead to 20-18 on free-throws from Allison Vivian.  Pitt-Johnstown quickly answered with 3-pointers from Smith and Mia Oterson.  Mercyhurst continued to battle and again narrow the Pitt-Johnstown lead back to two, before McCabe and Alexis Hartwick knocked down open jumpers to make it 34-28 heading into halftime.
 
Pitt-Johnstown came out in the third quarter and extended it to 38-28 with Maurina Nunn two free-throws with 8:52 remaining.  Mercyhurst went a 10-1 run, capped off by a layup by Allison Vivian, regain the lead 43-42 at the 3:29 mark, before Pitt-Johnstown responded with a 7-1 run to end the third quarter on Hartwick's fade-away jumper as time expired to put the Cats back in front 52-46.
 
In the fourth quarter, Mercyhurst got as close as 52-50 when Meghan Komendarek knocked own a free-throw with 7:46 left on the clock. With 4:24 remaining Smith hit two free-throws to give the Cats a 59-52 lead, and Pitt-Johnstown went on to the nine-point victory.
 
Smith finished with 22 points (12-14 free-throws) and six rebounds, while McCabe chipped-in 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Hartwick had 10 points and six assists to lead Pitt-Johnstown.  Nunn also had eight points and five rebounds for the Cats.
 
McCabe moved into 35^th place on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Scoring List with 1,047 points into 12^th on the All-Time Rebounding List with 724.
 
Vivian's 12 points and seven rebounds and Eliza Oswalt's 11 points paced the Lakers, who slipped to 6-10 overall and 4-6 in the PSAC.
 
Pitt-Johnstown's defense forced 20 turnovers that resulted in 22-points for the Mountain Cats. Pitt-Johnstown also grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and finished the game shooting 55.6% (5-9) compared to the Lakers who shot 20% (3-15).
 
Pitt-Johnstown will host a PSAC doubleheader with the Mountain Cats against Slippery Rock University on Wednesday starting at 5:30 p.m., before heading to Greensburg to for a conference game against Seton Hill University on Saturday.