Makalyn Clapper's career-high 23 points helped Pitt-Johnstown erase an 11-point first half deficit and lead the Mountain Cats to a 63-56 PSAC Crossover victory at Millersville, Saturday afternoon. Pitt-Johnstown raised its record to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the PSAC West.
Clapper, who shot 7-13 from the field, 2-4 from behind the arc, and 7-12 from the free-throw line, finished with 23 points, six rebounds, and three assists to pace three Mountain Cats who scored in double figures.
Olivia Fasick went a perfect 9-9 from the charity stripe and collected 13 points, while
Ashley Norling had 10 points. Pitt-Johnstown also got eight points and four rebounds from
Kylah Franklin and six points from
Hayden Taylor.
Pitt-Johnstown got off to a quick start and used Franklin's conventional 3-point play to open-up a 7-2 lead three minutes into the first quarter. Millersville
responded to outscore the Mountain Cats, 16-4, the rest of the way to build an 18-11 lead on Ty Taylor's layup and free-throw.
After the Marauders pushed it out to 24-13 early in the second quarter, Pitt-Johnstown answered with a 12-2 run of its own to narrow the gap to 26-25 at 3:55 on Clapper's 3-pointer and an Fasick 3-point play. The Marauders went into the halftime break holding a slim 32-29.
The Mountain Cats regained control to start the third quarter. Clapper's 3-pointer at 6:41 broke a 34-all tie and gave the lead back to Pitt-Johnstown. Taylor's 3-pointer with just under two minutes left gave the Mountain Cats a 47-38 advantage, before Millersville scored the final six points of the quarter to cut it to 47-44.
The Marauders held the momentum. Baskets from Taylor and Lauren Lister extended the run to 13-0 to put Millersville back on top 51-47. However, Fasick hit
a pair of free-throws with 4:04 to play that put Pitt-Johnstown in front, 54-53. The Mountain Cats never trailed again and went on to the seven-point victory.
Both teams shot 38.0% (19-50) from the floor, but Pitt-Johnstown, which held a 37-30 advantage in rebounding, made 23-30 from the free-throw line, while Millersville was 18-26 from the stripe.
The Marauders, who fell to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the PSAC East, were led by Lister's 22 points and six rebounds and Bria Beverly's seven points and game-high seven rebounds.
Pitt-Johnstown visits Division I Binghamton (NY) for an exhibition game on Tuesday, before traveling to Salem (WV) for a non-conference game on Saturday. The Mountain Cats will play their next home game as part of a PSAC Crossover doubleheader with the men's team against Shepherd (WV) on December 14 starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center.
