Pitt-Johnstown hung around for three quarters before succumbing to Clarion in a 63-51 PSAC Conference loss on Wednesday night at the Sports Center.

The Mountain Cats slipped to 2-19 (0-14 PSAC).

Freshman M'laya Ainsworth, who played a game-high 39 minutes, led the way with a team-high 14 points to go along with eight rebounds, three steals and two assists. Fellow freshman Gianna Gallucci added 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench.

Sophomore Belle Bosch contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three steals. Lexi Margolis had seven points and six rebounds.

Both teams struggled from the field in an opening quarter where Clarion led by as many as seven. Lydia Miller went 1-for-2 at the line with 17 seconds left to trim Pitt-Johnstown's deficit to 11-5 heading into the second.

The Mountain Cats were down by 10 at one point before stringing together a late run to end the half.

They clawed back to within two possessions via a pair of layups from Ainsworth and another from Gallucci in the final 92 seconds of the first half. Pitt-Johnstown went into the locker room down 23-19 after outpacing Clarion 14-12 in the second.

Miller's jumper less than 30 seconds into the third made it a 24-23 game, but the Mountain Cats never took control the rest of the way.

A late layup from Bosch made it 42-35 going into the fourth. Bosch's jumper were the only points during the opening four minutes of the final quarter that put the Mountain Cats in a 54-39 hole that proved to be insurmountable.

Malayziah Etheredge scored a game-high 16 points for the Golden Eagles, who moved to 13-10 (7-8 PSAC). Zoe Guice and Arianna Seitz each chipped in 11 points.

The Mountain Cats won the rebounding battle 48-40 and scored 38 of their points inside the paint.

Pitt-Johnstown visits Edinboro on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off.