Alexis Hartwick's 3-pointer broke a late tie and three Mountain Cat free-throws down the stretch helped Pitt-Johnstown preserve a 79-75 PSAC Western Division victory at Slippery Rock on Wednesday.  Gabrielle Smith's game-high 23 points and seven rebounds led four Mountain Cat double figure scorers.  Pitt-Johnstown improved to 10-8 overall and 6-5 in conference-play.
 
Pitt-Johnstown got off to a quick start and opened-up a seven-point first quarter lead.  A pair of 3-pointers from Alli McGrath, and one from Tori Moreland made it 16-12, before Smith hit from behind the arc to increase it to 22-15 with 2:26 left in the quarter.  Slippery Rock was able to cut it to 24-21 on two Ciara Patterson free-throws and a jumper by Madison Johnson.
 
The Mountain Cats built the lead to 41-32 on baskets by Nicole Olkosky and McGrath seven minutes into the second quarter.  The Rock scored the next seven, including a 3-pointer from Patterson, to make it a two-point game, but Smith connected on two free-throws with :42 remaining to give Pitt-Johnstown a 43-39 halftime advantage.
 
Moreland's free-throws after a Slippery Rock technical foul early in the third quarter closed a 6-0 Pitt-Johnstown spurt to get the lead back out to eight, and the Mountain Cats held the lead and went into the fourth quarter in front 57-51 on Maddie Shanahan's layup.
 
The Mountain Cats got a bucket from Hartwick at 5:57 that made it 64-57, but Slippery Rock battled back to narrow it to 69-67 on Brooke Hinderliter's 3-pointer three minutes later, before Morgan Henderson's 3-pointer knotted it a 72 with 1:46 to play.  However, Hartwick hit from behind the arc on the Mountain Cats' next possession and Pitt-Johnstown made 3-of-4 free-throws in the final :32 to seal the four-point victory.
 
Along with Smith, the Mountain cats also got 14 points from McGrath, and a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds from Olkosky.  Moreland finished with 11 points, while Shanahan had nine points and seven rebounds, and Hartwick chipped-in nine points for Pitt-Johnstown.
 
The Mountain Cats shot 49.0% (25-51) from the floor, 6-12 from behind the arc, and 23-30 from the free-throw line.  Slippery Rock was held to 43.1% (28-65) shooting, 9-29 from 3-point range, and 10-15 from the charity stripe.
 
Patterson scored 21 points, and Hinderliter and Johnson each scored 15 points for The Rock.  Slippery Rock, which dropped to 8-9 overall and 6-5 in the PSAC West, also got 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds from Henderson.
 
Pitt-Johnstown returns home to host a PSAC doubleheader with the men's team against Seton Hill on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center, before traveling to West Chester for a PSAC Crossover game next Wednesday.