Sophia Ott posted a career-high 23 points, but West Chester shot 67% in the final quarter to break a 49-all tie and hold of the Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team, 72-66, in Saturday's PSAC Crossover opener in West Chester. The Mountain Cats are now 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC.
Ott shot 10-14 from the floor and 3-4 from the line and pulled down a team-high seven boards to lead Pitt-Johnstown.
Liv West, the current PSAC West Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week, had 11 points and four rebounds, while
M'laya Ainsworth collected nine points and six rebounds, and Rile Childress added eight points, four boards, and five assists.
Childress' 3-pointer 4:11 into the opening quarter put Pitt-Johnstown on top by three. West Chester came back with a 10-3 run to go in front, 14-10, on an Alivia Mauz jumper, but Ainsworth's 3-pointer with time running out, cut it to 14-13.
The Golden Rams used another bucket from Mauz midway through the second quarter to extend its lead to eight, before eight straight points from Ott narrowed the Mountain Cat gap to 26-23 at 2:19.
West Chester held that lead and went into the break on top, 30-27.
Pitt-Johnstown came out and knocked down five of its first seven shots in the second half and got seven consecutive points from West and a pull-up jumper from Ott at the 6:07 mark of the third quarter to regain the lead 38-36. The Golden Rams countered with a quick, 6-1 spurt, capped by Jordan Tate's basket to go back in front, 43-39, and Mauz's jumper with :02 left in the quarter gave West Chester a 49-47 lead.
After
Faith King knotted it at 49 on Pitt-Johnstown's first possession of the fourth quarter, the Golden Rams caught fire and shot nearly 90% over the next six minutes to lock up the victory. West Chester outscored the Mountain Cats, 9-2, to take a 58-51 lead on Macie McCracken's 3-pointer at 6:41.
Lexi Margolis connected for three with 5:15 to play to get Pitt-Johnstown as close as four, but the Golden Rams were able to extend it to as many as 14 on their way to holding on for the six-point win.
The Mountain Cats, who held a 42-41 advantage on the glass, just weren't able to overcome 36.1% (26-72) shooting. Pitt-Johnstown did make six 3-pointers and was 8-10 from the line. West Chester ended the day shooting 49.2% (30-61), but just 2-15 from behind the arc. The Golden Rams were also 10-17 from the charity stripe.
McCracken's 15 points paced three West Chester double figure scorers. Bella Mazur had 13 points and Mauz had 11 points for the Golden Rams, now 4-2 overall and 1-0 in conference-play.
Pitt-Johnstown will host a non-conference game against Shippensburg on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center, before hosting a PSAC Crossover doubleheader with the men's team against Bloomsburg on Dec. 16 starting at 5:30 p.m.
