Pitt-Johnstown fell behind by double digits to start, but got a game-high 20 points (10-11 free-throws) and six rebounds from
Gabrielle Smith and 18 points from
Olivia Fasick to erase the deficit and down Slippery Rock, 77-67, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center. The Mountain Cats earned their third straight victory and improved to 10-7 overall and 5-6 in the PSAC West.
Alli McGrath added 11 points and seven rebounds, while
Ashley Norling scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds, and
Maddie Shanahan chipped-in seven points and seven rebounds for Pitt-Johnstown.
Slippery Rock jumped out to a 16-4 lead seven minutes in on a Daeja Quick 3-pointer, before the Mountain Cats answered with a 16-3 run to go in front 20-19 on Fasick's half-court first quarter buzzer beater.
Four straight Brooke Hinderliter free-throws gave the lead back to The Rock at 35-30 with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter, but two free-throws from Smith and McGrath's layup got the Mountain Cats back to within one at 35-34 at the half.
Pitt-Johnstown took a three-point lead into the third quarter on a
Maurina Nunn bucket as time expired, and the Mountain Cats pushed it out to 65-57 on McGrath's 3-pointer with 3:59 to play.
Slippery Rock got as close as five, but Pitt-Johnstown connected on 6-8 free-throws in the final 1:28 to close out the win.
After the slow start, the Mountain Cats ended the shooting 41.4% (24-58) from the floor, 6-21 from 3-point range, and 23-29 from the free-throw line. Slippery Rock was limited to just 34.4% (21-61) shooting. The Rock was 6-17 from behind the arc, but just 19-27 from the charity stripe.
LeeAnn Gibson had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Madison Johnson and Hinderliter each scored 14 points for Slippery Rock, which fell to 4-13 overall and 2-9 in the PSAC West. Karington Ketterer collected a double-double of 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Quick scored 11 points for The Rock.
Pitt-Johnstown will host a PSAC doubleheader with the men's team against nationally-ranked Indiana (PA) on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center, before visiting Seton Hill on Saturday for a conference game.
