Peyton Alazaus scored a team-high 16 points and snared a game-high eight rebounds to power the Mountain Cats to a 71-61 win over Salem (WV) in their home opener on Tuesday.

Olivia Fasick collected 15 points and dished out a game-high seven assists for Pitt-Johnstown, which improved to 3-1. Hayden Taylor notched 14 points and five boards. Ashley Norling had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

After taking a slim 29-25 lead into the break, the Mountain Cats created some much needed breathing room out of halftime thanks in large part to Alazaus, who dropped 13 points in the third quarter.

Shortly after the Tigers climbed back within four midway through the third, Alazaus drilled a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Mountain Cats a 45-37 advantage.

Pitt-Johnstown shot 7 of 14 overall, including 5 of 11 (45.5%) from deep in the third on its way to outscoring Salem 26-19 to take a 55-44 lead into the fourth. As a team, Pitt-Johnstown hit seven more 3-pointers than Salem and finished 11 of 30 (36.7%) from beyond the arc.

The Mountain Cats would need every bit of that lead after Elena Pericic hit a 3-pointer to get the Tigers within three at 62-59 with a little over four minutes remaining. But Pitt-Johnstown responded 30 seconds later with a layup from Makalyn Clapper and another from Fasick on the following possession to go back up by seven with 3:21 remaining.

Pericic had a game-high 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds for the Tigers (2-3). 

Pitt-Johnstown forged ahead by as many as 10 on three different occasions in the first after getting out to a 12-2 lead to start.

After the Thanksgiving break, Pitt-Johnstown travels to West Virginia State University on Monday at 5:30 pm. The Mountain Cats open up PSAC play with a visit to Bloomsburg scheduled for Dec. 2 at 5:30 p.m.