Pitt-Johnstown held a six-point third quarter lead and trailed by just two with 5:25 to play, but Division I Saint Francis University was able to hold off the Mountain Cats, 85-78, in exhibition-play, Tuesday night at DeGol Arena in Loretto.
Gabrielle Smith scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead three Pitt-Johnstown players who scored in double figures.
Saint Francis climbed out to a 15-9 lead midway through the opening quarter on a Sam Sabino basket. Pitt-Johnstown countered with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to take a five-point lead of its own. Six straight points from Smith, who finished the quarter with 13 points, and a pair of free-throws from
Katie Bolden with 1:46 left made it 20-15. The Red Flash got a three-pointer from Jessica Kovatch as time expired to cut it to 22-20.
The Mountain Cats maintained the lead and extended it to 31-25 on Smith's free-throws, before 3-pointers from Kovatch and Jenna Mastellone briefly gave the lead back to Saint Francis at 33-32 with 3:34 remaining. Pitt-Johnstown came right back to make it 41-35. Two more of Smith's 21 first half points and a bucket at the buzzer by
Nicole Olkosky gave the Mountain Cats a 45-41 halftime advantage.
After McGrath's 3-pointer early in the third quarter put the Mountain Cats up 52-46, the Red Flash went on to outscore Pitt-Johnstown, 18-6, the rest of the way to take a six-point lead into the fourth quarter. St. Francis narrowed it to one, then went back on top, 59-58, on another Kovatch 3-pointer at the 3:02 mark, before Kovatch's bucket in the paint with :25 to go made it 64-58.
Pitt-Johnstown kept it close on narrowed it to 72-70 with 5:25 to play on Olkosky's lay-up, but Saint Francis wouldn't allow the Mountain Cats to get any closer and held on for the seven-point victory.
Along with Smith, McGrath scored 18 points and
Tori Moreland had 15 points to pace the Mountain cats. Pitt-Johnstown also got nine points and nine rebounds from Olkosky and five points and five rebounds from
Maddie Shanahan.
Pitt-Johnstown, which held a 45-29 advantage in rebounding, shot 46.8% (22-47), 4-9 from 3-point range, and an impressive 30-37 from the free-throw line. The Mountain Cats held Saint Francis to 39.2% (29-74) shooting. However, the Red Flash connected on 16-0f39 from behind the 3-point line and 11-15 from the charity stripe.
Kovatch's game-high 31 points, including seven 3-pointers paced four Red Flash players who scored in double figures. Aunesha Williams and Karson Swogger each netter 12 points and Courtney scored 10 points.
Pitt-Johnstown will open the 2018-19 regular season against Shaw (NC) and Winston-Salem State (NC) at the Shepherd (WV) University Tip-Off Classic on November 9 and 10. The Mountain Cats will make their home debut with a PSAC game against Kutztown as part of a doubleheader with the men's team on December 8 at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center.
