The Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team withstood a late charge from Bloomsburg University Saturday afternoon and held on for a 51-46 nonconference victory at the Sports Center.

The Mountain Cats, who led by as many as 11 points in the second half, outscored the Huskies 12-7 in the final eight minutes after Bloomsburg had erased that lead and tied the game at 39-39.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for coach Mike Drahos' Pitt-Johnstown team, which improved to 2-2 overall. Bloomsburg slipped to 1-3.

Freshman guard/forward Cassidy Crawford led the Mountain Cats with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Guard Olivia Fasick had 11 points and redshirt sophomore forward Ashley Norling added nine points. Guard Emma Saxton led Bloomsburg with a game-high 18 points.

Pitt-Johnstown shot 34 percent from the field (18 of 53) and 5.6 percent from 3-point range (1 of 18). Bloomsburg hit 35.1 percent of its shots (20 of 57) and 16.7 percent (2 of 12) from behind the arc. But Pitt-Johnstown made 77.8 percent of its free throws (14 of 18) to Bloomsburg's 44.4 percent (4 of 9).

Makalyn Clapper's two free throws at 6:35 of the third quarter gave the Mountain Cats their biggest lead at 34-23, but three baskets by Saxton in the final 3:37 got the Huskies to within 37-32 after three quarters. 

In the opening half, Pitt-Johnstown, which trailed by as many as eight points in the first quarter, rallied to tie the game at 15-15 less than a minute into the second quarter when Crawford scored on a layup off an assist from Fasick. 

Fasick then gave the Mountain Cats their first lead of the game at the 6:57 mark and Crawford's layup at 6:17 stretched that lead to 19-15 and capped a 14-2 run.

Katelin Starr's layup a few minutes later tied the game at 21-21, but Pitt-Johnstown quickly regained the lead, scoring the final five points of the half on Crawford's 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Molly Wagoner for a 26-21 lead at the intermission.

Crawford led Pitt-Johnstown with 11 points and four rebounds while playing 18 minutes in the first half.

Bloomsburg connected on six of its first seven shots from the field in the first quarter. The Huskies built their largest lead at 13-5 with 4:27 remaining on Emma Giochnauer's layup.

Pitt-Johnstown went on an 8-2 run to close the quarter and pull to within two points at 15-13 left. Crawford keyed the run by hitting a jump shot and two free throws, while Kendyl McKissock contributed a layup and Fasick a jumper.

Pitt-Johnstown, which improved to 6-4 all-time against the Huskies, will break for the Thanksgiving holiday before traveling to Glenville State (W.Va.) College for a 5:30 p.m. nonconference game on Nov. 29.

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