Belle Bosch collected a double-double of 14 points and game-high 10 rebounds and Pitt-Johnstown jumped out to a first quarter lead, but 22
nd-ranked Indiana (PA) took advantage of 54% shooting to lock down an 84-62 PSAC victory, Wednesday evening at the Kovalchick Complex in Indiana. The Mountain Cats fell to 2-15 overall and 0-10 in conference-play.
Along with Bosch, Pitt-Johnstown got nine points each from
Lexi Margolis,
Hayden Keith, and
Kate Myers, and six points and five assists from
Riley Childress.
Pitt-Johnstown used a pair of baskets from Bosch and a jumper from
Lydia Miller to climb out to a six-point lead six minutes into the game, but IUP closed out the opening quarter on an 11-4 run to go in front, 15-14, on 3-pointers from Marin Miller and Grace Centrulla.
Miller stayed hot and scored the Crimson Hawks' first seven points of the second quarter to extend the run to 18-5 and put IUP in front, 22-15, before Margolis layup got the Mountain Cats back to within five at the 6:22 mark. However, three more of Miller's 12 second quarter points got the lead into double digits and helped the Crimson Hawks take a, 40-22, advantage into the halftime break.
After Childress' bucket on the Mountain Cats' first possession on the second half cut the deficit to 16, IUP went on to shoot 56% in the third quarter to push the lead out to 64-36 on Miller's 3-pointer as time expired.
The Crimson Hawks maintained the lead throughout the final quarter and made it four wins in their last five outings to improve to 13-2 overall and 8-1 in the PSAC.
The Mountain Cats shot 39.1% (25-64) from the field, 7-23 from 3-point range, and 5-7 from the line, while IUP's 54.2% shooting came on 32-59 from the floor and 8-13 from behind the 3-point line. The Crimson Hawks were also 12-17 from the charity stripe.
Miller finished with a game-high 24 points and six rebounds, and Centrulla added 21 points and eight rebounds to pace four IUP players who scored in double figures.
Pitt-Johnstown will host a PSAC doubleheader with the men's team against California (PA), Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center, before visiting nationally-ranked Gannon for a conference game on Wednesday.
