Sophia Ott collected career-highs of 20 points and seven rebounds, and
Belle Bosch added 18 points and seven rebounds to help Pitt-Johnstown hold on for an 81-80 non-conference victory at West Virginia State, Thursday afternoon. The Mountain Cats are now 2-11 entering PSAC West-play.
Ott shot 9-12 from the floor, including a 3-pointer, and 1-1 from the line and pulled down six of her seven rebounds on the defensive end to lead the Mountain Cats.
Riley Childress had 14 points (9-10 free-throws), six rebounds, and six assists, while
Lydia Miller finished with 11 points and six boards, both one shy./ of career-highs. Pitt-Johnstown also got eight points and six rebounds from
M'laya Ainsworth and five points, flour rebounds, and six assists from
Lexi Margolis.
West Virginia State used an Ashley Kerekes bucket seven minutes in to build a 24-12 advantage, but Pitt-Johnstown scored eight of the final 11 points, including Ott's layup with :16 remaining, to cut the Mountain Cat deficit to 27-20 after one quarter.
Pitt Johnstown kept the momentum in the second quarter. The Mountain Cats held the Yellow Jackets scoreless the first 4:36 and limited West Virginia State to just 4-25 shooting in the quarter. Pitt-Johnstown extended the run to 14-3 to narrow it to 27-26 on a Bosch turnaround jumper in the paint and a Childress free-throw. Another basket from Bosch knotted it a 34, before Childress hit a pair of free-throws with :01 on the clock to give the Mountain Cats a 40-36 halftime lead.
After the Yellow Jackets were able to tie it at 40 and 45 early in the third quarter, Childress answered with a 3-pointer and Ott's fast break layup at 5:51 to put Pitt Johnstown on top 52-45. Miller's jumper with under a minute to go extended it to 63-53, but a basket from Emyah Fortenberry and a 3-pointer from Shanley Woods got West Virginia State back to within five at 63-58 entering the fourth quarter.
Fortenberry's layup with 7:26 to play gave the lead back to the Yellow Jackets. Following one tie and four lead changes, Ott scored four straight points and Childress connected on two free-throws at 3:57 to give the Mountain Cats the lead at 73-68. Pitt-Johnstown never gave up the lead and used clutch 3-pointers from Bosch and Margolis and held on for the narrow one-point victory.
The Mountain Cats shot a solid 48.4% (31-64) from the floor, 7-20 from 3-point range, and 12-13 from the line. Pitt-Johnstown held West Virginia State to just 35.7% (30-84) shooting, including just 8-38 from behind the arc and 12-21 from the free-throw line.
Fortenberry and 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and Baylee Goins, Latisha Parris, and Woods all had 11 points for the Yellow Jackets, who dropped their fifth straight game and fell to 5-5.
Pitt-Johnstown opens PSAC West-play at Slippery Rock on Monday, before returning home to host a conference doubleheader with the men's team against Edinboro on Wednesday. The women will tip-off against the Fighting Scots at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center before the men's game at 7:30 p.m.
