Gabrielle Smith scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds to move to within three points of becoming Pitt-Johnstown's 38^th 1,000-point scorer, but 21^st-ranked California (PA) built a 12-point halftime lead and dealt the Mountain Cats a 61-41 PSAC loss, Saturday afternoon.  Pitt-Johnstown slipped to 12-13 overall and 8-10 in conference-play.
 
Abbey Sporio's bucket and a Seairra Barrett free-throw put California (PA) in front 12-6 seven minutes into the opening quarter, before Pitt-Johnstown answered with layups from Nicole Olkosky and Smith to cut it to two at the 2:00 minute mark.  The Vulcans added another basket late in the quarter to go up 14-10.
 
Maddie Shanahan's jumper quickly evened it at 14, but, California (PA) went on to outscore the Mountain Cats 17-5 over the final 8:28 of the second quarter to build a 12-point halftime advantage.  A 13-3 Vulcans' run, capped by D.J. Hahn's 3-pointer at 3:38, got the lead into double figures, and baskets from Jamiere Jefferies and Bianca Jasper in the final minute extended it to 31-19 at the break.
 
The Vulcans extended it to 39-23 on Jasper's 3-pointer four minutes into the third quarter, but Alli McGrath and Smith combined to scored 10 of Pitt-Johnstown's next 12 points to narrow the gap to 45-35 at the end of the quarter.
 
However, Pitt-Johnstown could not get any closer.  Barrett's layup with 2:49 to play pushed the lead out to 20 at 59-39, and California (PA) went on to the 61-41 victory.
 
Along with Smith, Pitt-Johnstown also got 10 points and seven rebounds from Shanahan and eight points and six rebounds from McGrath.  Olkosky scored six points.
 
Niether team shot the ball well.  Pitt-Johnstown, which out-rebounded the Vulcans 37-32, shot 37.2% (16-43) from the field, 0-7 from behind the arc.  California (PA) was held to 35.9% (23-64) shooting, but connected on 5-17 from 3-point range.  The Mountain Cats were 9-13 from the free-throw line, and the Vulcans hit 10-12 from the charity stripe.
 
Jasperr's game-high 15 points paced four California (PA) players who scored in double figures.  Barrett had 14 points, Sporio had 12 points, and Jiahna Flood-Francis tallied 11 points for the Vulcans, who improved to 20-3 overall and 14-3 in the PSAC.
 
Pitt-Johnstown travels to a PSAC game at Seton Hill on Wednesday, before closing out the 2018-19 regular season with home doubleheaders with the women's team.  The Mountain Cats will celebrate Senior Day against Slippery Rock next Saturday afternoon, then wrap-up the regular season against Mercyhurst on February 27.