A tough beginning to the fourth quarter sent Pitt-Johnstown 65-50 non-conference loss to Wheeling in coach D'wan Shackleford-Vickroy's home debut on Wednesday evening at the Sports Center.

The Mountain Cats dropped to 0-3 on the year, while the Cardinals improved to 1-2.

Sophomore Belle Bosch paced the Mountain Cats in scoring for the third straight game, racking up 14 points. She also had four rebounds and two assists. Junior transfer Liv West notched 10 points and pulled down four rebounds.

Lexi Margolis contributed nine points and a team-high five boards, while sophomore Camille Dominick supplied seven points and two rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.

Pitt-Johnstown took a 44-41 lead into the fourth, but found itself on the wrong end of a 24-6 scoring deficit in the final quarter that proved to be the difference.

After being down 16-12 entering the second, the Mountain Cats willed themselves back thanks in large part to Bosch and Margolis, who accounted for 12 of the 17 points in the quarter. It was knotted up at 29-all heading into the locker room.

West tallied six points in the third quarter to help the Mountain Cats outscore the Cardinals 15-12.

Pitt-Johnstown will visit Davis & Elkins on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip-off in West Virginia.