Battling for a spot in next week's PSAC Women's Basketball Tournament, Pitt-Johnstown stormed back from a double-digit halftime deficit behind Lexi Margolis'14 points, but the Mountain Cats weren't able to complete the comeback and suffered a 74-62 setback, at Seton Hill on Wednesday. Pitt-Johnstown is now 9-17 overall and 6-13 in conference-play.
 
The loss eliminated the Mountain Cats from PSAC Tournament contention ahead of their final game of the season against Clarion, which clinched the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Division.
 
Margolis led three double-digit scorers with 14 points on 6-14 shooting.  Liv West had 13 points and nine rebounds, while Riley Childress collected 13 points and four boards.  The Mountain Cats also got eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds from Angel Ezirim.
 
After a Margolis 3-pointer on Pitt-Johnstown's opening possession of the game, Seton Hill went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in a 16-3 run over the next nine minutes to climb out to a 16-6 advantage.  The Mountain Cats answered with a 3-pointer and a bucket in the paint from West in the final minute to narrow it to 18-11 after one quarter.
 
As Pitt-Johnstown struggled to get the offense going in the second quarter, the Griffins heated up and knocked down four of their six 3-point attempts and shot 61% for the quarter.  Three straight from behind the arc over the first four minutes and a short jumper from Shaye Bailey at 4:24 got Seton Hill's lead out to 20.  The Griffins then used a 3-pointer from Monique Vincent to go in front, 47-18, at the break.
 
Two more 3-pointers early in the third quarter continued to build the Seton Hill. The Mountain Cats countered with six straight points, including a basket from West, and a floater from Anye Washington at the 4:26 mark narrowed the gap to 57-31. Pitt-Johnstown continued to battle back and went on to outscore the Griffins, 23-14, in the quarter to make it 61-21 on an Ezirim basket.
 
The Mountain Cats held the momentum to begin the final quarter and go as close at a dozen at 79-52 with under a minute to play on Childress' layup and free throw and a 3-pointer from Ezirim, but Seton Hill was able to hold off the Pitt-Johnstown comeback.
 
Pitt-Johnstown struggled in the first half, but shot 58% (19-33) in the second half to end the night at 39.1%. Seton Hill shot 43.3% for the game and 15-19 from the charity stripe. Both teams connected on seven 3-pointers.
 
Hallie Cowan's game-high 18 points and seven boards, and Mia Kalich's 14 points and game-high eight rebounds paced four Griffins who scored in double-figures and helped Seton Hill improve to 18-7 overall and 14-5 in the PSAC West.
 
Pitt-Johnstown returns home to close out the 2025-26 season and celebrate Senior Day with a PSAC West doubleheader with the men's team against Clarion on Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center. The women will tip-off at 1 p.m. with the men's game to follow at 3 p.m.