Peyton Alazaus made six of Pitt-Johnstown's 13 3-point field goals to lead the West's sixth-seeded Mountain Cats to a lopsided, 78-62, victory over third-seeded Seton Hill in Monday's opening round of the 2022 PSAC Women's Basketball Tournament in Greensburg.  Pitt-Johnstown, which shot 61.9% from behind the arc and picked-up its second win over the Griffins in less than a week, improved to 13-16 and advances to the PSAC Quarterfinals to take on West No. 2-seeded Gannon, Wednesday night at 7:00 in Erie.
 
Alazaus went 6-of-9 from 3-point ranged and finished with 18 points and seven rebounds to pace four Mountain Cat double-figure scorers.  Makalyn Clapper had 17 points (3-5 3FG), five rebounds, and three steals, while Hayden Taylor added 15 points (3-4 3FG) off the bench, and Ashley Norling collected 13 points.  Pitt-Johnstown also got nine points, seven rebounds, and a career-high 5 steals from Olivia Fasick and five points and 10 rebounds from Molly Wagoner.
 
Five straight points from Clapper got the Mountain Cats off to a 5-2 lead, before Seton Hill used a Katie Nolan free-throw to take its own three-point four minutes in.  Pitt-Johnstown quickly regained the lead on an Alazaus 3-pointer and Clapper's free-throw and went into the second quarter on top, 14-13.
 
The Mountain Cats held the momentum and got hot from 3-point range.  Pitt-Johnstown knocked down six of its eight 3-pointers in the quarter and shot nearly 70% over the first seven minutes to take control.  A 13-0 run, capped by 3-pointers from Clapper, Fasick, and Alazaus, pushed the lead out to 27-13 at the 5:40 mark. Taylor come off the bench and hit two straight from behind the arc to increase it to 17 two minutes later and a Wagoner's layup with just under a minute to go gave the Mountain Cats a 19-19 advantage.  The Griffins scored the final five points to make it 38-23 at the half.
 
The 3-pointers kept falling for Pitt-Johnstown.  Clapper's third of the night a minute into the second half increased it to 43-23, but the Griffins battled back to cut it seven at 47-40 on a Samantha Kosmacki basket at 2:54.  That was close as the Mountain Cats would let it get.  Norling answered with a jumper for the Mountain Cats to quickly get the lead back into double figures, and Alazaus' 3-pointer at the buzzer put Pitt-Johnstown in front 56-42.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Alazaus early in the fourth quickly got Pitt-Johnstown's lead back out to 18, and Alazaus' sixth of the night increased it to 69-50 with 6:16 to play.  The Mountain Cats never let it get any closer than 11 the rest of the way and coasted to the 16-point victory.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, which held the lead for nearly 33 minutes, shot in even 50% (26-52) for the game and 13-21 from 3-point range, while holding Seton Hill to just 38.2% (21-55) shooting, including just 5-20 from behind the 3-point line.  The Mountain Cats, who also held a 37-29 advantage on the glass, made 10 of it 13 free-throws.
 
Christiane Frye scored 18 points and Nolan collected 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Griffins, who fell to 21-10.