Pitt-Johnstown Lady Cats Fall at Home to Charleston

Sheena Aden (Sandy Lake, Pa.) collected a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Sara Trimarco (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) added 10 points, but the University of Charleston (WV) outscored Pitt-Johnstown 16-7 to start the second half and broke open a two-point game on its way to defeating the Lady Cats, 60-47, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.  Pitt-Johnstown fell to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the WVIAC.
    
In a tight first half that saw both teams struggle shooting the ball, Charleston climbed out to a slim 10-7 lead on Tarena Dixon's basket 6:32 into the game.
    
Pitt-Johnstown came back to take a 15-14 lead on Sara Trimarco's (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) three-pointer four minutes later, but the Golden Eagles scored the next five to go up 20-15 on two free-throws by Tiffany Scott at 5:49.
    
The Lady Cats then used a 7-0 run over the next four minutes to regain the lead at 22-20 on Kelly Goode's (Cincinnati, OH) lay-up, before Charleston took a 24-22 advantage into halftime.
    
The Golden Eagles came out in the second half on a on a 16-7 run over the first 10 minutes.  Charleston pushed their two point lead to 37-27 on Tiana Beatty's jumper with 12:54 remaining and Dixon's jumper at 10:07 capped the run and made it an 11-point game at 40-29.
    
Andrea Dalton's (Washington, Pa.) free-throws at 5:29 cut the deficit to 47-40.
    
However, that was as close as Pitt-Johnstown would get.  The Golden Eagles matched-their earlier 11-point lead on Lindsey Kentner's bucket with 3:30 remaining.  Dixon scored in the paint to extend the lead to 56-43 with just over a minute remaining, before Charleston went on to the 13-point win.
    
Aden paced Pitt-Johnstown with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Trimarco chipped in 10 points to account for the only Lady Cats who scored in double-figures.  Dalton scored seven points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while Goode had seven points and seven rebounds.
    
Aden currently stands in 14th-place on the Lady Cats All-Time Scoring List with 1,253 points and tied with Sue Rosso (1992-95) for 25th on the all-time rebounding list with 474 rebounds, while Dalton is 32nd on the scoring list with 1,018 points and 29th on the all-time rebounding list with 419.
    
Pitt-Johnstown could not overcome a poor shooting day and 26 turnovers.  The Lady Cats shot just 30.4% (17-56) from the field and 5-20 from three-point range.  Pitt-Johnstown, which was out-rebounded 41-40, was also 8-12 from the free-throw line.  Charleston shot 38.3% (23-60) from the floor, but just 1-10 from behind the three-point line.  The Golden Eagles hit 13-17 from the charity stripe and committed 19 turnovers.
    
Ali Tobias and Beatty led Charleston with 12 and 11 points, respectively.  Dixon had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles, who improved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the WVIAC.
    
The Lady Cats travel to Shepherd (WV) University for a WVIAC game on Saturday, before breaking for the holiday season.  Putt-Johnstown will then host a non-conference game against Lock Haven University on Thursday, December 30 at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.
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