Ashley Norling scored a career-high 21 points as Pitt-Johnstown led wire-to-wire in 68-59 PSAC victory over Clarion, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center. The Mountain Cats improved to 14-11 overall and 9-10 in the PSAC West.
Along with Norling,
Alli McGrath had 15 points and seven rebounds, and
Gabrielle Smith added nine points. Pitt-Johnstown also got four points, seven rebounds, and a game-high eight assists from
Olivia Fasick and four points a game-high 12 rebounds, and six assists from
Maddie Shanahan.
Pitt-Johnstown jumped out to a 10-4 lead three minutes into the first quarter on a
Maddie Shanahan short jumper. Clarion cur to it two tow at the midway point, but the Mountain Cats outscored the Golden Eagles, 8-2 the rest of the way to take a 20-12 advantage on
Alli McGrath layup and a pair of free-throws from
Makalyn Clapper.
Two of Norling's 12 first half points off the bench and a bucket from
Maurina Nunn pushed the lead to 12 early in the second quarter, before an 8-2 Clarion spurt, capped by Olivia Boock's 3-pointer, cut it to 28-24. The Mountain
Cats got baskets from
Kashyra Jackson and McGrath late in the quarter to rebuild the lead to 36-27 at the half.
Smith's layup to begin the third quarter got the lead out to 13, and Pitt-Johnstown extended it to 55-39 on Norling's basket with 1:35 left in the quarter.
The Mountain Cats built the lead to as much as 20 at 61-41 with 8:40 to play on a
Lindsay Shuke layup and went on to the nine-point win.
After s rough shooting night on Wednesday, Pitt-Johnstown bounced back to shoot 48.3% (29-60) on Saturday. The Mountain Cats were 1-7 from behind the arc and 9-12 from the free-throw line. Clarion was held to 40.0% (24-60) shooting, 6-22 from 3-point range, and 5-6 from the line.
Celeste Ryman scored 16 points, while Emily Hegedus had 14 points and seven rebounds, and Yasmin Lewis chipped-in 12 points and eight rebounds for the Golden Eagles, who fell to 4-21 overall and 2-17 in the PSAC West.
Pitt-Johnstown visits Mercyhurst on Wednesday for a PSAC game, before playing its final home game of the 2019-20 season and celebrating Senior Night with a conference doubleheader with the men's team against Seton Hill on February 26. The women will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in the sports Center, before the men's game at 7:30 p.m.
