The Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team used a 14-1 run to open the third quarter and went on to outscore Slippery Rock, 31-14, in the second half on its way to a convincing, 62-45, PSAC Western Division victory over the Rock, Wednesday evening in the Sports Center.  Makalyn Clapper's game-high15 points and five rebounds paced three Mountain Cat double figure scorers and helped Pitt-Johnstown improve to 10-13 overall and 8-9 in conference-play.  The win also helped Pitt-Johnstown solidify its grip on earning a spot in the upcoming PSAC Tournament.
 
Along with Clapper, who hit five of her seven shots and went 2-3 from behind the arc, and 3-3 from the line, Ashley Norling scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high seven boards, and Peyton Alazaus tallied a dozen points on 5-8 shooting and 2-4 from 3-point range for the Mountain Cats.  Olivia Fasick added seven points and a game-high five assists.
 
In a tight first half that featured five ties and six lead changes, Slippery Rock jumped out to an 11-6 first quarter lead on a Deleah Gibson bucket.  Pitt-Johnstown answered with a quick, 7-2 spurt, capped by two Cassidy Crawford free-throws to knot it at 13.
 
It remained close throughout the second quarter.  After Kennedy Middleton put the Rock back up by four, the Mountain Cats came back to tie it on five occasions, including at 31 at the half on Fasick's floater as time expired.
 
However, it was all Pitt-Johnstown in the second half.  The Mountain Cats, who held Slippery Rock to 0-7 shooting and just six points in the third quarter and eight points in the final quarter, stormed out of the break on a 14-1 run to gain control and build a 45-32 lead of their own.  The Mountain Cats never let it get closer than 11 the rest of the way and extended it to 52-35 on a Hayden Taylor 3-pointer with 1:31 left in the third quarter.
 
Clapper connected on a pair of free-throws at the 4:11 mark of the fourth quarter that gave Pitt-Johnstown its largest lead of the night at 60-39, and the Mountain Cats coasted to the victory and evened the season series with Slippery Rock at one win apiece.
 
After shooting 50% in both the first and third quarters, Pitt-Johnstown ended the night at 43.6% (24-55).  The Mountain Cats made six 3-pointers and were a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe.  Pitt-Johnstown which held the Rock to just 3-21 (14.3%) shooting in the second half, also limited Slippery Rock to just 34.1% (15-44) shooting for the game, including 4-15 from behind the 3-point line.
 
Gibson's 15 points and Jamiyah Johnson's 12 points the Rock, which dropped its eighth straight game and fell to 10-11 overall and 5-10 in the PSAC West.
 
Pitt-Johnstown visits Clarion for a PSAC game on Saturday, before returning home to host a PSAC Western Division doubleheader with the men's team against California (PA) on Monday starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center.