Liv West collected 16 points and eight rebounds and
Sophia Ott added 11 points, but Kutztown battled back from a double-digit first half deficit to pick up a 71-63 PSAC Crossover the Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team, Sunday afternoon in Kutztown.
Along with West and Ott,
Riley Childress finished with nine points, while
Lexi Margolis and ad
M'laya Ainsworth each had seven points for Pitt-Johnstown, 3-8 overall and 0-4 in the PSAC. The Mountain Cats also got six boards from
Angel Ezirim.
The Mountain Cats got off to a fast start and shot 64% in the opening quarter to take a 14-point advantage. Five early points from West helped Pitt-Johnstown jump out to a 7-1 lead just over three the minutes in. Kutztown cut it to one a minute later on a Leila Hurley 3-pointer, but the Mountain Cats outscored the Golden Bears 14-1 over the final 5:49 to make it 21-7 on
Aubree Price's 3-pointer and West's driving layup.
West's free-throw and a bucket from Ott extended the run to 17-1 to begin the second quarter and pushed the lead out to 24-7. After Margolis' basket in the paint at 6:10 put Pitt-Johnstown on top 30-11, Kutztown got hot and countered with an 18-2 run, capped by Hurley's fourth 3-pointer of the first half, to narrow the deficit to three. Childress answered as time expired to give the Mountain Cats a 34-29 lead at the half.
The Golden Bears carried the momentum into the second half and used a quick 7-1 spurt to take their first lead of the day on Olivia Smela's 3-pointer at the 8:48 mark of the third quarter. The lead see-sawed back and forth until Danae Ellzy broke a 48-all tie with 11 straight points to give Kutztown a 59-49 advantage entering the fourth quarter.
The Golden Bears were able to build the lead to 65-51 two minutes into the final quarter on Taylor Gurysh's 3-pointer with 8:08 to play.
Lexi Margolis' knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:46 remaining to get the Mountain Cats back to within seven, but that's as close as it would get.
Pitt-Johnstown, which held a 32-28 advantage on the glass, ended the day shooting 41.5% (22-53) from the floor, 5-15 from behind the arc, and 14-14 from the line. The Golden Bears shot 54.2% (26-48), including 7-14 from 3-point range and 12-18 from the charity stripe.
Kutztown, now 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC, was led by Hurley's game-high 19 points and Ellzy's 18 points.
Pitt-Johnstown will break for the holiday season, before hosting conference crossover doubleheaders with the men's team against Millersville on Jan. 2 at 3 p.m. and Shepherd on Jan. 3.at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center.
