Peyton Alazaus had a team-high 19 points, Olivia Fasick added 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Pitt-Johnstown beat Frostburg State (MD) 74-64 in a season-opening victory at Frostburg State University's Jim Crawley Conference Challenge Tournament on Friday night.
Ashley Norling provided 14 points for the Mountain Cats, while Cassidy Crawford tallied nine points. Makalyn Clapper had seven rebounds, while Alazaus and Crawford pulled down six boards apiece. Fasick dished out a game-high four assists.
The Mountain Cats, who never trailed, held a 34-29 lead at the break but went up by as many as 16 in the third quarter after opening the period on a game-changing 11-0 run.
Hayden Taylor, who chipped in eight points, drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to begin the second half and Norling supplied the next five points, which included an and-one to make it 45-29 less than three minutes into the third.
As a team, Pitt-Johnstown shot 10 of 16 from the floor in the third period, including 4 of 7 from deep, to outscore the Bobcats 25-22 and take an 8-point advantage into the final quarter.
Frostburg State closed to within six in the final frame before an extended 10-0 burst from the Mountain Cats put them up by 14, 69-55, with less than five minutes to play.
All nine players who checked in for the Mountain Cats recorded at least two rebounds as they outrebounded the Bobcats 42-28.
Emilee Weakley scored a game-high 24 points for Frostburg State (0-1). Maggie Sharp totaled 14 points, while Rhiana Hall added 11.
Pitt-Johnstown will take on Alderson-Broaddus (WV) University Saturday at 1 p.m. in the final game of the Jim Crawley Conference Challenge before visiting Binghamton (NY) University for an exhibition matchup next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
