Pitt-Johnstown narrowed a 10-point third quarter deficit to two, before outscoring Kutztown by 17 in the final quarter to secure a 79-64 PSAC Crossover victory over the Golden Bears, Sunday afternoon in the Sports Center.  Gabrielle Smith's 21 points and six rebounds led five Mountain Cats who scored in double figures and helped Pitt-Johnstownwin its fourth straight game and improve to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in conference-play.
 
Smith scored 11 of her 21 points from the free-throw line, while Olivia Fasick added 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, and five steals to lead the Mountain Cats.  Lindsay Shuke went 3-for-6 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points, Maddie Shanahan chipped-in 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Ashley Norling scored 10 points.  Pitt-Johnstown also got eight points and a career-high seven steals from Makalyn Clapper.. 
 
Pitt-Johnstown fell behind by eight to start on a Zoe Zerman 3-pointer, but outscored Kutztown 10-1 over the final 3:37 of the opening quarter to take a 17-16 lead on Fasick's 3-pointer.
 
The Mountain Cats kept the run going to begin the second quarter and increased it to 23-2 to build a 13-point lead of its own.  Clapper connected from behind the arc to push it into double digits, and a pair of free-throws from clapper at 7:14 made it 30-17.
 
Kutztown answered right back and was able to cut it to one on Rylee Derr's free-throws five minutes later, and went into the halftime break trailing, 36-34.
 
Karen Lapkiewicz's 3-pointer at 5:55 of the third quarter increased the Golden Bears' lead to 48-38.
 
However, it was all Pitt-Johnstown after that.  Smith and Norling each hit two free-throws to narrow the gap to 51-50.  Derr followed with a 3-pointer for Kutztown, but Shanahan's layup as time expired in the quarter made it 54-52.
 
The Mountain Cats regained the lead for good at 56-55 on a Shuke 3-pointer with 8:18 to play.  The Mountain Cats did the rest from the charity stripe, going 13-13 in the final 1:30, including six straight from Smith, to pull away.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, which forced 30 turnovers and turned them into 38 points, shot 39.3% (22-56) from the floor, but made eight 3-pointers and was 28-33 from the free-throw line.  Kutztown shot 38.8% (19-49) from the field, 9-27 from behind the 3-point line, and 17-23 from the charity stripe.
 
Derr's game-high 24 points and seven rebounds led the Golden Bears.  Brianna Tarabocchia had 12 points and six rebounds, and Casey Remolde scored 10 points for Kutztown, which fell to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the PSAC East.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will host a non-conference game against Salem (WV) on December 4 at 6 p.m. in the Sports Center, before traveling to Bloomsburg for a PSAC Crossover game on December 7.