Riley Childress posted career-highs of 16 points and six rebounds, and freshman
Lydia Miller added a career-best 12 points, but Shippensburg used a strong second half to erase a one-point halftime deficit and pull away for a 74-59 PSAC Crossover victory over Pitt-Johnstown, Friday afternoon in Shippensburg. The Mountain Cats slipped to 1-8 overall and 0-3 in the PSAC.
Childress' 16 points came one shot 6-12 from the field, and 3-4 from the free-throw line, while Miller was 3-6 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line to reach her career-high of 12 points. Pitt-Johnstown also got nine points from
Lexi Margolis, and seven points and five boards from
Belle Bosch.
Pitt-Johnstown got off to a quick start and opened up an 8-0 lead on two
Lydia Miller free-throws just over three minutes in. Shippensburg followed with an 11-2 run over the next four minutes, capped by Bella Chimienti's 3-pointer, to go up 11-10 with 1:57 left in the opening quarter, but a 3-pointer from Margolis and one from
Sophia Ott as time expired put the Mountain Cat on top, 16-13.
After Abbie Johns' layup four minutes into the second quarter briefly gave the lead back to the Red Raiders, Margolis knocked down her third 3-pointer of the day on Pitt-Johnstown's next possession to spark a 9-3 run that gave the Mountain Cats a 27-22 advantage. Pitt-Johnstown maintained the lead over the final 4:11 and took a slim, 32-31, lead into the halftime break.
A driving layup from Childress and a free-throw from Bosch extended the lead to 37-31 at the 7:11 mark of the third quarter. The Red Raiders answered again and outscored Pitt-Johnstown 18-7 to regain the lead 49-44 on a bucket from Abbie Miller, before taking a 71-47 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Red Raiders kept the momentum and got a put back from Michelle Olak pushed it out to 60-49 with 7:22 remaining in regulation and went on to the victory.
The Mountain Cats struggled to get the offense going. Pitt-Johnstown was held to 35.2% (19-54) shooting and 5-14 from behind the arc. The Mountain cats made 16-18 from the line. Shippensburg ended the day shooting 51.9% (28-54) from the floor, 4-8 from 3-point range, and 14-18 from the charity stripe.
Abbie Miller's game-highs of 16 points and nine rebounds, and Chimienti's 14 points and six rebounds paced five Red Raiders who scored in double figures to help Shippensburg improve to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the PSAC.
Pitt-Johnstown will travel to a PSAC Crossover game at Millersville on Saturday then a conference crossover doubleheader with the Mountain Cats against West Chester on Dec. 17 in the Sports Center.
