Head Coach Mike Drahos' Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team gave sixth-ranked Indiana (PA) all it could handle Wednesday evening in the Sports Center.  The Mountain Cats trailed by just a bucket with 10 seconds remaining, but the Crimson Hawks were able to hold on for a 58-53 PSAC Western Division victory.
 
Alli McGrath hit a pair of free-throws with :10 left to narrow the Mountain gap to 55-52, but IUP's Courtney Alexander hit her first free-throw, then got a rebound off her missed attempt, before being fouled and sealing the game with two more from the line.
 
McGrath's 17 points and Gabrielle Smith's 10 points, two blocks, and three steals led Pitt-Johnstown, which slipped to 10-8 overall and 5-7 in the PSAC West.  Makalyn Clapper scored eight points and made a game-high five steals, while Olivia Fasick had six points and a team-high five rebounds.  The Mountain Cats also got six points from Maddie Shanahan and five points and four rebounds from Ashley Norling.
 
IUP ran out to a 12-0 lead just over five minutes into the game on Lexi Griggs' layup and took a 16-8 advantage into the second quarter on a Rajah Fink layup.
 
Pitt-Johnstown answered to cut it to one at the half.  After Natalie Myers' 3-pointer to open the quarter pushed the Crimson Hawks' lead back out to 11, the Mountain Cats outscored IUP, 17-7, to make it 26-25 at the break on Fasick's basket and a pair of free-throws from Smith.
 
A 10-2 spurt to begin the second half got IUP's lead to 36-27.  Pitt-Johnstown scored seven straight points to get back two, before McGrath's bucket on the Mountain Cats' first possession of the fourth quarter gave Pitt-Johnstown its first lead of the night at 41-40.
 
However, the Crimson Hawks got the lead back out to five with 1:14 to play and never trailed again.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, which forced 28 IUP turnovers, was held to 27.4% (17-62) shooting, including 3-15 from 3-point range.  The Mountain Cats were also 16-20 from the line.  IUP outrebounded Pitt-Johnstown 44-32 and shot 45.5% (20-44) on the night.  The Crimson Hawks were 6-14 from behind the arc and 12-20 from the charity stripe.
 
Myers' game-highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds paced IUP, now 17-1 overall and 12-0 in the PSAC West.  Griggs scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Maura D'Anna had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Crimson Hawks.
 
Pitt-Johnstown travels to Seton Hill for a conference game on Saturday, before returning home to host a PSAC Crossover doubleheader with the men's team against Mansfield on Wednesday.  The women will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center with the men's game to follow at 7:30 p.m.