JOHNSTOWN, Pa.- Emily McAteer (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) matched her career-high with 25 points and 13 rebounds, but Pitt-Johnstown (5-4, 2-1) withstood the late West Chester (5-4, 2-1) charge to earn an 84-78 victory over the Golden Rams.
McAteer led the team in scoring as one of four Golden Rams in double figures and one of two with a double-double as
Leah Johnson (Columbus, N.J/Notre Dame) finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds while
Michelle Kozicki (Wilmington, Del./Padua) and
Anna McTamney (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) finished with 21 and 12, respectively in a game that featured nine ties and nine lead changes. The game was at its closest for much of the fourth quarter, featuring six ties and four lead changes in the final period alone, but it was UPJ who closed the game on a 17-11 run to escape with an 84-78 victory over the visiting Golden Rams.
West Chester held an early lead in this back-and-forth affair, stretching its advantage to as many as six with 4:32 to play in the first quarter after a McTamney layup capped off a 9-0 Golden Ram run, giving West Chester a 17-11 lead. Pitt-Johnstown answered back quickly, using an 8-0 run of its own to take a 19-11 lead into the second quarter.
Pitt-Johnstown used this early advantage to cling to a slim lead for much of the remainder of the contest, eventually stretching its advantage to as many as nine points with 3:30 to play in the second quarter. West Chester put together a late run as the game approached halftime, cutting the deficit to as few as three points with 1:48 to play in the opening half after a perfect 2-of-2 effort from the line by Johnson. Pitt-Johnstown extended the lead to six moments later, but a late layup by McAteer for two of her 15 first-half points cut the deficit to four heading into the break.
In the second half, it was more of the same as West Chester and Pitt-Johnstown continued to trade makes, which allowed West Chester to retake the lead (57-56) after a successful trip to the line by Kozicki. West Chester and Pitt-Johnstown continued to trade a one-point lead back-and-forth until
Briana Seltzer (Reading, Pa./Reading) hit a pair of free throws with 7:47 to play, giving West Chester a 61-60 lead, which would prove to be the Golden Rams final lead of the afternoon.
With the score tied at 67-67 with 4:40 to play after another layup by Kozicki, Pitt-Johnstown went on an 11-5 run to take a 78-72 lead with 1:33 to play as the host Mountain Cats closed the game on a 17-11 run, thanks in large part to a 3-of-4 shooting effort from Ashley Norling, who finished with eight points in the win.
Olivia Fasick led the Mountain Cats in scoring with 26 points, including a nearly perfect 11-of-12 effort from the line, while Peyton Alazus chipped in 16 on a team-best 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
As a team, Pitt-Johnstown ended the game with a 45.1 % (23-of-51) and 48.0 % (12-of-25) from three while going 26-for-29 (89.7 %) from the line in the victory over the Golden Rams. West Chester nearly matched the Mountain Cats at the line, going 25-for-28 (89.3 %) from the stripe but a 3-of-15 (20.0 %) three-point shooting effort and a 25-of-68 (36.8 %) performance from the field as a whole proved costly as the Golden Rams dropped their first league game of the year.
Despite the setback, West Chester ended the game with a 42-32 lead in rebounding and a corresponding 16-14 lead in second-chance points while also ending the game with an 11-14 edge in the turnover battle and an 18-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action tomorrow night vs NR/#11 IUP at 5:30 p.m. in its final game before the Holiday Break begins on Tuesday.
