The Pitt-Johnstown women’s basketball team has lost their fifth game in the past six and their second straight, as they were defeated last Wednesday, 86-47, by Gannon University.
Gannon came into the game ranked fifth in the nation and had just lost their first game of the season to Edinboro University.
The Lady Cats fell to 6-11 overall and 3-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division with Wednesday’s loss.
Poor shooting by the Lady Cats is what did them in against the Lady Golden Knights, who already came into the game with a chip on their shoulders.
Gannon outscored Pitt-Johnstown 41-10, after the Lady Cats started the game with a 5-2 lead.
The Lady Cats shot 28.8 percent from the field and 18.5 percent from behind the three-point line while Gannon made over half of its field goals and three-point shots.
Junior forward Nicole Carman led the way for the Lady Cats with 11 points along with senior forward Rachel Johnson, who added six points and a game high eight rebounds.
Pitt-Johnstown was outrebounded by only eight, but Gannon capitalized on their rebounds more.
The Lady Golden Knights had 46 points in the paint and 19 second-chance points.
The Lady Cats rebounded Saturday with a win against Mercyhurst University, 67-62. Juniors Jasmine Harper and Kelsey Sleighter led the team with 13 points each.
The Lady Cats are now 4-4 in conference play, 7-11 overall.
“We used the game against Gannon to motivate us going into Mercyhurst,” Harper said.
“We are going to have to finish strong and we have not reached our peak yet, so that is a good thing.”
If the season ended today, the team would qualify for the conference playoffs. Rachel Johnson had seven points, three rebounds and three steals.
“The win gave us the confidence boost we need going into this last stretch of games,” Johnson said.
“We have only conference games left and we are in the division’s top four teams so we have to use this game as a springboard to get into the playoffs.”
The Lady Cats outscored Mercyhurst off the bench, 19-7 and in points off turnovers, 21-10.
The team had the lead the whole entire game and the largest lead was 14.
The next game is against Indiana University of Pennsylvania Wednesday night at the Sports Center.
