Alli McGrath scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds, but second-ranked Indiana University (PA) broke open a six-point second-quarter lead and dealt the Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team a 73-45 PSAC Western Division loss, Saturday evening at the Kovalchick Complex in Indiana. The Mountain Cats slipped to 7-6 overall and 3-3 in the PSAC West.
Carolyn Appleby's 3-pointer four minutes into the opening quarter gave IUP an early seven-point lead, but Pitt-Johnstown got a 3-pointer from
Gabrielle Smith and a basket from
Nicole Olkosky to cut it to 11-9 at 5:02. The Crimson Hawks went on to outscore the Mountain Cats 8-0 the rest of the way, including a bucket in the paint from Kendall Hunter with under a minute left, to extend its lead to 19-9.
Pitt-Johnstown pulled to within six at 19-13 on a pair of
Maddie Shanahan free-throws and an McGrath jumper to open the second quarter, before IUP regained control and closed out the half on a 14-2 run to build a 33-15 advantage on Lexi Griggs' layup as time expired.
Smith's basket 1:20 into the third quarter got the Mountain Cats as close as 16, but the Crimson Hawks never let get any closer. IUP broke it open with a 17-4 run and took a 52-23 lead into the fourth quarter on Teirra Preston's late layup.
The Crimson Hawks maintained at least a 26-point advantage and went on to the victory.
Along with McGrath's 15 points and six rebounds, Pitt-Johnstown also got 14 points from Smith, six points and a team-high seven rebounds from Shanahan, and five rebounds from
Alexis Hartwick.
The Mountain Cats were held to 33% (16-48) shooting for the game, while IUP shot 48% (32-66). Pitt-Johnstown was 6-20 from behind the 3-point arc and 7-10 from the free-throw line. The Crimson Hawks, who held a 39-29 advantage on the glass, hit 7-24 from 3-point range and 2-4 from the charity stripe.
Griggs' game-highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds led the way for IUP. Appleby had 16 points and Brittany Robinson collected 12 points for the Crimson Hawks, who improved to 11-0 overall and 6-0 in the PSAC West.
Pitt-Johnstown visits Gannon for a PSAC game on Wednesday, before returning home to host conference games with the Mountain Cat men's team in the Sports Center against Edinboro on January 12 at 1 p.m. and California (PA) on January 16 at 5:30 p.m.
