Junior guard Peyton Alazaus poured in a team-high 21 points, Olivia Fasick drew a critical offensive foul in the closing seconds and the Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team hung on for a thrilling 68-66 victory over Indiana (PA) in the first round of the PSAC Tournament on Monday night at the Kovalchick Convention & Athletic Complex.
The fifth-seeded Mountain Cats notched their 17th win, the most ever under 10th-year coach Mike Drahos, and improved to 17-12 (13-9 PSAC West). For the second consecutive season, they will be a part of the PSAC quarterfinals, where they will visit top-seeded Gannon (27-3) on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Pitt-Johnstown outscored Indiana 17-12 in the fourth quarter and needed every bit of it to survive in the closing seconds after the Crimson Hawks gained possession off of a held ball trailing 67-66 with 16 seconds to play.
IUP's Kiera Baughman go-ahead layup was waived off when Fasick absorbed the contact and earned what was essentially a game-sealing charge call to give the Mountain Cats possession again with just 3.4 seconds left.
Ashley Norling was fouled with 0.9 seconds to play and made the first free throw, but intentionally missed the second one to run out the clock as Pitt-Johnstown beat Indiana for the second time in three matchups this season.
Norling finished with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Fasick added 13 points and four boards. Alazaus drilled three triples and went 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Pitt-Johnstown, which trailed by as many as six in the latter stages of the third quarter, tied the game at 60-all on Molly Wagoner's putback layup and grabbed the lead for good on a three by Hayden Taylor with 3:07 remaining. That all-important 9-2 run was capped off by a layup from Norling to put the Mountain Cats in front 67-62.
The Mountain Cats shot 50% from the floor in the fourth to bounce back from a trying third quarter where they shot just 5-of-14 and were outscored 24-15.
After falling behind 27-23 at the 5:49 mark of the second, Pitt-Johnstown ended the first half on a 13-3 burst to forge ahead 36-30 at the break.
Despite a relatively slow start offensively, the Mountain Cats found themselves down just one at 15-14 at the end of one. Fasick and Norling combined for 12 points in the first.
Alana Cardona had a double-double with game-highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds to pace No. 4 seed Indiana, which closed its season with an 18-10 record.
The Mountain Cats will now turn their attention to exacting revenge on the Golden Knights, who swept the regular season series with wins on Jan. 7 and Feb. 6.
