Pitt-Johnstown could not find enough answers to combat No. 4/5 Gannon and its swarming defense that made life difficult and culminated in a 58-34 setback on Sunday afternoon at Cathedral Preparatory High School.

The Mountain Cats dropped to 15-12 overall, 10-11 in the PSAC. The Golden Knights, who checked in at No. 4 in the latest coaches poll and No. 5 in the media poll, moved to 28-2 overall, 20-1 in the PSAC.

Senior Peyton Alazaus had a team-best nine points, while freshman Belle Bosch added five points and four rebounds. Alazaus now needs six more 3-pointers to tie the school record of 199 3-point makes in a career that was set by Kelsey Sleighter from 2011-2015.

Senior Olivia Fasick battled foul trouble throughout the contest, but still dished out two assists to notch 513 for her career and tie herself with Sally Mosay (1984-1988) for fifth on the school's all-time assists list. 

Despite facing a 5-0 deficit early on, Pitt-Johnstown held Gannon without a point for more than seven minutes and ventured on a 7-0 run capped by two free throws from Alazaus to take its only lead of the game.

Gannon scored the final six points of the first and grabbed an 11-7 lead that it methodically expanded throughout the second quarter. The Mountain Cats' only points in the second came on a 3-pointer by Krista Troyer and offered little reprieve during what was in all a 22-3 run over a span of 12 minutes by the Golden Knights that gave them a 27-10 lead at the break.

Pitt-Johnstown was 2-for-23 from the field in the first half and finished at 21.3% (10-for-47) against the nation's fourth-ranked scoring defense. The Golden Knights were limited to a 35.7% (10-for-28) mark from the floor in the first half and ended the game shooting 38.3% (23-for-60).

Both teams shot an identical 18.2% (4-for-22) from beyond the arc. McKel Nation led Gannon with 13 points. Graduate student Samantha Pirosko added 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

The Mountain Cats are still alive for the No. 6 seed in the Western Division, and their final regular-season game will be against the team they're chasing in the standings.

Pitt-Johnstown will host Seton Hill in a matchup that will have significant postseason implications on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center.