The Pitt-Johnstown men's and women's basketball teams will host a non-conference doubleheader, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.  Head Coach Mike Drahos' women's team will make their 2019-20 home debut against Wheeling (WV) University at 1 p.m., before Head Coach Bob Rukavina's men's team host Ohio Dominican University at 3 p.m.
 
      The Pitt-Johnstown women, 2-1 to start the year, defeated Virginia State and Fayetteville State (NC) at last weekend's Shepherd (WV) Conference Challenge, before suffering a 79-70 loss at Alderson Broaddus (WV) on Wednesday.  Gabrielle Smith finished with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Alli McGrath, this week's PSAC West Player of the Week, had 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists to pace the Mountain Cats against the Battlers.  Olivia Fasick added career-highs of 16 points and six steals, and Lindsay Shuke scored a career-high nine points.
      Through three games, Smith (23.7 ppg., 6.7 rpg.) and McGrath (23.0 ppg., 9.0 rpg.) lead Pitt-Johnstown in both scoring and rebounding.
      Smith ranks 28^th on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Scoring List with 1,147 career points, one point shy of Pat Wajers (1976-80) for 27^th-place.
      Wheeling, under first-year Head Coach Mike Llanas, is 1-1 following an 88-58 loss to Shippensburg in last Friday's opening round of the MEC/PSAC Challenge in Shippensburg.  The Cardinals bounced back with a 68-64 win over East Stroudsburg in last Saturday's second round behind Taliah Cashwell's game-high 23 points, Lilly Ritz's 15 points and game-high 14 rebounds, and Khira Burton's 13 points.
      Through two games, Cashwell (12.5 ppg.), Burton (12.0 ppg.) and Ritz (11.5 ppg.) are all averaging double figures in scoring for Wheeling, while Ritz leads the team in rebounding at 10.5 rpg.
      Last year, Pitt-Johnstown traveled to Wheeling on Nov. 26 and suffered an 82-67 loss.  McGrath scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Maddie Shanahan added 16 points to pace the Mountain Cats.  Burton scored a game-high 22 points, and Cashwell had 17 points for the Cardinals.
      Pitt-Johnstown continues a five-game homestand with a non-conference match-up against West Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Sports Center, before opening PSAC Crossover-play against East Stroudsburg and Kutztown next weekend.
 
     The Pitt-Johnstown men made their 2019-20 home debut on Wednesday and came away with a 101-81 non-conference victory over Carlow University.  Fred Mulbah finished with 19 points, and Caiden Landis collected 18 points against the Celtics to lead four Mountain Cats who scored in double figures.  Pitt-Johnstown also got 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds from PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week John Paul Kromka, and 12 points off the bench from Joe Batt.  The Mountain Cats also opened the season by splitting two games at the IUP IRMC/Hilton Garden Inn Classic last weekend.
    Josh Wise enters today's game ranked 19^th on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,210 points, 21 points shy of Bill Luther (2010-14) for 18^th-place on the list and 28 points shy of Mike Gresik (1981-85) for 17^th-place.
     First-year Head Coach Kelly Winter's Ohio Dominican Panthers are 1-1 after opening the year with an 87-86 double overtime win at Wayne State (MI) on November 8 and an 85-82 home loss to 19th-ranked Ashland (OH) on Sunday.  Sam Hickey poured in a game-high 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Michael Scott scored 22 points, and Ethan Haynes scored 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the Panthers' loss to the Eagles.
     Saturday marks the first ever meeting between the two programs.
    The Mountain Cats close out a four-game homestand and begin conference-play with PSAC Crossover doubleheaders with the women's team against East Stroudsburg next Saturday and Kutztown on November 24.  Both games are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. in the Sports Center.