Cassidy Crawford notched her third double-double of the season with a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds and Pitt-Johnstown doubled up Wheeling (WV) in the first quarter on its way to a wire-to-wire 73-65 win on Friday evening at the McDonough Center in Wheeling.
The victory wrapped up non-conference play and moved the Mountain Cats to 6-2 (1-1 PSAC) on the year.
Peyton Alazaus knocked in a game-high three treys and finished with 22 points and four rebounds. Hayden Taylor added eight points.
Senior Olivia Fasick scored seven points and recorded game-highs of nine assists and three steals. Fasick needs just five points to become the 39th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points.
Taylor's 3-pointer near the midway point of the first quarter provided the Mountain Cats with a 15-5 cushion that eventually expanded to 25-10 on a three from Crawford.
Pitt-Johnstown led 28-14 after one. Both teams struggled from the perimeter over the next 10 minutes. The Mountain Cats received seven of their 15 points in the second quarter from Crawford, who went 1-for-2 at the free throw line in the final seconds to make it 43-26 at the break.
The Mountain Cats were an efficient 47% (25-of-53) from the field and hit 17 of their 21 attempts from the charity stripe. They scored 14 points off 11 Cardinal turnovers and had a 14-3 advantage in fast break points.
Freshman Camille Dominick knocked down a jumper at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter to provide Pitt-Johnstown with its largest lead at 54-31. The Mountain Cats were up 60-42 at the end of the third and comfortably held a double-digit lead for nearly the entirety of the fourth.
The defense limited Wheeling to just a 35% clip from the field and a 4-for-16 mark from 3-point range.
Shamia Strayhorn tallied a team-high 19 points for the Cardinals, who lost for the second time this season and now sit at 8-2.
Pitt-Johnstown welcomes Bloomsburg to the Sports Center on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off in the first game of a PSAC double-header with the men's team.
