The Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team fell to Mercyhurst University 60-57 Wednesday night at the Pitt-Johnstown Sports Center. The Mountain Cats closed the regular season at 13-15 overall and 9-12 in the PSAC West. Pitt-Johnstown will await the results of Saturday's slate of PSAC games to see who they will take on in the first round of the PSAC Women's Tournament.
 
The trio of Gabrielle Smith, Alli McGrath and Tori Moreland combined for 51 of the 57 Pitt-Johnstown points. Smith finished with 19-points, McGrath and Moreland ended the night with 16-points each.
 
Mercyhurst jumped out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to a jumper from Nicolete Newman and layup from Meghan Komendarek. Pitt-Johnstown tied it up After a pair of Moreland free throws and a Smith offensive rebound and put back.
 
The Mountain Cats opened up a five-point lead on a Moreland layup to make it 15-10 with 2:06 left in the first quarter. McGrath made it 20-12 when Shanahan found her for a 3-pointer with 9:28 left in the second.
 
Mercyhurst battled back to tie it before halftime thanks to a layup from Amber Renz and a Jenna Kunst jumper.
 
Mercyhurst opened up a four-point lead, 35-31, with 4:22 left in the third on a Renz layup assisted by Kunst. Mercyhurst pushed their lead up to seven points late in the third quarter thanks to free throws from Eliza Oswalt.
 
The Mountain Cats cut into the Lakers lead and made it 43-42 thanks to a Moreland layup with 9:25 left in the game. With 4:45 left in the game, Smith found a cutting Nicole Olkosky to tie it at 47.
 
After trading baskets, Mercyhurst opened up a four-point lead with 33 seconds left when Oswalt found Renz for a jumper to make it 56-52. After an Emily Shopene free throw, Smith made it 57-54 with 20 seconds remaining.
 
Newman split a pair of free throws and Smith laid it up and in to make it 58-56 with 12 seconds remaining. After an Olkosky steal, Newman fouled Moreland who made it 58-57 with six-seconds left. Shopene iced the game away from the free-throw line to secure the victory for Mercyhurst.

With her 19 points, Smith climbed five spots and now stands in 31^st-place on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Scoring List with 1,053 points.  Smith is just two points shy of tying Janet Kartovicky (1983-87) for 30^th-place on the scoring list.
 
Offensively, Mercyhurst was led by Renz who finished the game with a team-high 17-points. Oswalt finished the night with 13-points and Newman chipped in 10.
 
The Mountain Cats return to action March 4 when they will travel to face their first round opponent in the PSAC Women's basketball Tournament.