The Mountain Cats gave defending NCAA Division II National Champion Glenville State (WV) all it could handle, but a tenacious defensive effort and a late rally helped the Pioneers come from behind for a 79-62 non-conference win on Tuesday night at the Sports Center.
Despite Pitt-Johnstown falling to 4-4 (1-1 PSAC) on the year, being edged out in the final quarter by the 6th-ranked team in the NCAA Division II Coaches Poll should instill a substantial amount of confidence in a squad that will now turn its attention to conference play.
Ashley Norling notched a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 12, rebounds.Peyton Alazaus collected 13 points, which included three 3-pointers, for the Mountain Cats.
The Mountain Cats led 37-32 at the break after shooting 52% (13 for 25) from the field in the first half. A 13-6 run that was spearheaded by five points from Mickayla Perdue over a period of five minutes in the third allowed the Pioneers to knot the game at 45-all.
Down by five with 6:20 to play, the Mountain Cats clawed back within two at 59-57 after Alazaus knocked down a triple. But Glenville State, which scored 28 points in the final frame, pulled away with a 9-0 spurt to build an 11-point lead with a little over three minutes to go.
Kylah Franklin helped Pitt-Johnstown keep pace late in the third quarter by scoring five of her nine points on the night in the final three-plus minutes to give the Mountain Cats a 52-51 advantage heading into the fourth. However, Glenville State went on to grab the lead for good after Dream Cherry's layup put the Pioneers up 53-52 just a minute into the fourth quarter.
The Mountain Cats, who outrebounded the Pioneers 39-35, had their largest lead of the game in the first quarter when Krista Troyer knocked down a jumper to make it 24-11 with 1:24 remaining.
Pitt-Johnstown shot 57% (8 for 14) from the field and 7 of 8 from the charity stripe to sieze a 24-16 lead after one.
The Pioneers bounced back by opening the second with a 12-4 run to grab their first lead at 28-26 on Deja Atkinson's layup midway through the quarter. But the Mountain Cats responded with an 8-0 run capped off by a layup from Makalyn Clapper that came off an assist from Olivia Fasick, who dished out a game-high seven.
Monique Pruitt poured in a game-high 18 points and had a team-high nine rebounds for the Pioneers, who won their fifth straight game to improve to 8-1.
The Mountain Cats will host their first conference opponent when they welcome West Chester to the Sports Center on Sunday at 1 p.m. followed by another home matchup against Millersville slated for the same time.
