Gabrielle Smith scored a game-high 21 points and
Alli McGrath had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds to help Pitt-Johnstown erase a nine-point third quarter deficit and secure a 73-68 PSAC victory at Edinboro on Wednesday. The Mountain Cats improved to 11-11 overall and 7-8 in the conference.
Ciara Rosten scored nine of Edinboro's first 11 points to help the Fighting Scots jump out to an 11-7 first quarter lead. Pitt-Johnstown followed with a 9-2 run, capped by a
Maurina Nunn layup and a jumper from McGrath to take 16-13 lead at the 2:05 mark. The Mountain Cats got two more of McGrath's 15 first half points and held an 18-17 advantage entering the second quarter.
Edinboro regained control with five straight points to begin the second quarter, including Jontay Walton's 3-pointer, that gave the lead back to the Fighting Scots, but Pitt-Johnstown clawed back to knot it at 27 on
Alexis Hartwick's 3-pointer and a Smith free-throw. However, Edinboro went on to outscore Pitt-Johnstown 14-6 over the final 6:07. Rosten's 3-pointer and Michaela Barnes' bucket with :22 left put the Fighting Scots in front, 41-33, at the break.
Smith's putback and a pair of free-throws from Hartwick cut the Pitt-Johnstown deficit to 45-42 midway through the third quarter, before the Fighting Scots pushed their lead out to nine at 51-42 on Barnes' 3-pointer less than a minute later. The Mountain Cats kept it close and got back-to-back baskets from Hartwick to narrow it to four with 1:01 left in the quarter, but four straight points from Edinboro put the Fighting Scots back up by eight, 58-50.
Tori Moreland's 3-pointer closed out a 9-0 Pitt-Johnstown run over the first 3:40 of the fourth quarter to give the Mountain Cats a 59-58 lead. Edinboro scored the next four to retake the lead 62-59, before Moreland's conventional 3-point play tied it at 64 at 2:45 and Smith's basket tied it again at 66 at 2:15. Hartwick then scored to give Pitt-Johnstown a 68-66 advantage, and McGrath and Smith connected on free throws down the stretch to preserve the five-point win.
Smith finished with 21 points (11-12 FTs) and eight rebounds, and McGrath added 18 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists to lead four Pitt-Johnstown double figure scorers. Moreland had 14 points and five rebounds, and Hartwick chipped-in 12 points off the bench, while
Maddie Shanahan and
Nicole Olkosky collected seven and six rebounds, respectively for the Mountain Cats.
Pitt-Johnstown, which out-rebounded the Fighting Scots 45-32, shot 47.1% (24-51) from the field and 5-16 from 3-point range, while holding Edinboro to just 33.3% (23-19) shooting, including just 5-14 from behind the arc. The Mountain Cats were 20-28 from the free-throw line and Edinboro was 17-20.
Walton scored 20 points, Rosten had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Barnes had 18 points for the fighting Scots, which had their four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 14-6 overall and 9-5 in the PSAC.
Pitt-Johnstown travels to a PSAC game at Clarion on Saturday, before hosting a conference doubleheader with the men's team against nationally-ranked Indiana (PA) on February 13. The women will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center, followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.
