Liv West scored a game-high 23 points to help Pitt-Johnstown cut a 17-point deficit to one late in the fourth quarter, but East Stroudsburg hit five free-throws down the stretch to hold off the Mountain Cats, 70-66, in Saturday's PSAC Crossover matchup in East Stroudsburg.
 
West finished with 23 points on 8-12 shooting from the field, 4-7 from behind the arc, and 3-4 from the line, while Riley Childress added 14 points and five rebounds for Pitt-Johnstown, now 3-7 overall and 0-3 in conference-play.  The Mountain Cats also got career-best of eight points and seven boards from freshman Angel Ezirim and six points apiece from Alyssa Altemus and M'laya Ainsworth.
 
Three of West's seven first quarter points gave Pitt-Johnstown a slim two-point advantage, but East Stroudsburg answered with eight straight points of their own to go on top 21-15 on a Jess Devine 3-pointer at 1:16, and the Warriors took a 23-18 lead into the second quarter.
 
East Stroudsburg extended its run to 21-3 to push it out to 34-18 on a Brie Droege free-throw midway through the quarter.  Ezirim's conventional 3-point play got the Mountain Cats back to with a dozen, but the Warriors were able to build the lead to 17 at 39-22 with 3:11 left in the half.  Pitt-Johnstown responded again and scored the final nine points, including a bucket from Ainsworth and an Altemus 3-pointer as time expired to narrow it to 39-31 at the break.
 
West, who scored 11 points in the third quarter, took over for the Mountain Cats and made it a two-possession game on Pitt-Johnstown's first possession of the second half, before a Janelle Norman's putback at the 4:10 make cut it to 50-46.  The Warriors got it back out to eight-point, but Camille Dominick scored in the paint late in the quarter to help the Mountain Cats pull back to within six at 55-49.
 
Pitt-Johnstown continued to cut into the lead.  West connected for three with 5:02 left in regulation to get to down to two, and Childress' jumper at 2:10 made it 63-62.  Still trailing by just one, Ezirim made a steal with :36 to go to give the Mountain Cats a change to regain the lead.  However, Pitt-Johnstown wasn't able to get a shot off and East Stroudsburg knocked down 5-of-6 free-throws in the final :23 to seal the victory.
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot 41.8% (27-55) from the floor with seven 3-pointers, while holding the Warriors to 41.1% (23-56) and five 3-pointer.  The Mountain Cats were 13-19 from the line, and East Stroudsburg made 19 of their 25 attempts.
 
Droege's 19 points and six rebounds led three Warriors who scored in double figures.  Avery White had 14 points and Devine chipped-in 13 for the Warriors, now 7-2 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will visit Kutztown for a PSAC Crossover game on Sunday, then break for the Holidays.  The Mountain Cats will be back in action when they host conference crossover doubleheaders with the men's team against Millersville on Jan. 2 and Shepherd on Jan. 3.