JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Junior forward Camille Dominick contributed a team-high 18 points and six rebounds, and Pitt-Johnstown never trailed on the way to a dominant 97-75 non-conference victory over West Liberty on Saturday afternoon at the Sports Center.
Thirteen players scored for the Mountain Cats as they improved to 1-3 following what marked the first game against the Hilltoppers since 2013.
Freshman Aubree Price connected on a game-high three 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, 14 of those coming in the first half.
Liv West added 11 points, while Sophia Ott chipped in 10 points and four rebounds in just seven minutes off the bench. Senior point guard Riley Childress supplied team-highs of nine assists and four steals.
The Mountain Cats led 10-9 midway through the first before West scored on a layup to ignite a 10-1 run that pushed the advantage to double-digits.
That lead continued to expand in the second quarter thanks to another layup from West that made it 31-16. M'laya Ainsworth notched four of her eight points off the bench in the final 46 seconds of the opening half to help Pitt-Johnstown take a commanding 48-30 lead into the break.
Pitt-Johnstown shot 57.5% (19-for-33) from the field in the first half, which included a 5-for-9 mark from beyond the arc, The defense, meanwhile, limited West Liberty to just 42.3% (11-for-26) from the floor.
Freshman Alyssa Altemus opened the third with a layup to up the lead to 50-30. The Mountain Cats led by at least 17 throughout the frame and ran that advantage up to as many as 24 late in the quarter on a free throw from Dominick.
The fourth quarter saw plenty of substitutions with the Mountain Cats firmly in control. Their lead peaked at 27 points, 90-63, with about four minutes remaining when Dominick scored inside.
After a strong start offensively, Pitt-Johnstown was even more prolific over the final 20 minutes, going 66.6% (20-for-30) from the floor. The Mountain Cats held a 56-36 advantage in points in the paint, a 22-14 edge in points off turnovers and a resounding 59-14 lead in bench points.
Ana-Isabel Andersson scored a game-high 26 points for the Hilltoppers, who dropped to 2-2.
Pitt-Johnstown travels to Point Park for a non-conference matchup at 2 p.m. Sunday.
