INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP women's basketball team extended its winning streak to nine games with a 78-39 victory over Pitt-Johnstown in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play on Tuesday evening at the Kovalchick Complex.

With the win the Crimson Hawks improve to 9-2 overall and 7-0 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Mountain Cats fall to 6-7 overall behind a 2-5 mark in PSAC play.

Redshirt sophomore Lauren Wolosik (Pittsburgh, Pa. /North Catholic) scored a team-high 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting (7-of-8 from the free-throw line) to go along with six rebounds, four assists, four steals and one block. Sophomore Carolyn Appleby (Greensburg, Pa. /Greensburg Central Catholic) tallied 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and added four assists, three rebounds and one steal. Freshman Maura D'Anna (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) totaled 12 points, six rebounds (four offensive), one block and one steal. Sophomore Brittany Robinson (Harrisburg, Pa. /Central Dauphin East) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points, two rebounds and two steals.

After the beginning with the game tied at 4-4, the Crimson Hawks used a 7-1 run to take an 11-5 lead at the 5:10-mark of the first quarter on a pair of free-throws from junior Megan Smith (Blain, Pa./West Perry). IUP then pushed the lead to 15-6 just over a minute later after Wolosik connected on a pair of free-throws. The Mountain Cats responded by closing the first quarter on a 6-2 run to pull to within 17-12.

The Crimson Hawks started the second quarter with a three-pointer from Wolosik. The Mountain Cats then cut the lead to 22-16 after a pair of free-throws from Olivia McCabe at the 8:24-mark. IUP then answered with an 11-6 run over a five-minute stretch that pushed the Crimson Hawk lead to 33-21 after a layup from freshman Lexie Griggs (Pittsburgh, Pa./Vincentian Academy) with 3:03 to play in the half. The Crimson Hawks shot 5-of-11 from the floor while holding Pitt-Johnstown to just 2-of-6 from the field and forced five Mountain Cat turnovers during the run. IUP then took a 38-23 halftime lead after closing the second quarter on a 7-2 run.

Pitt-Johnstown opened the third quarter on a 5-2 run to cut the lead to 40-28 at the 7:51-mark on a layup from McCabe. IUP responded with a 10-4 run to push the lead to 50-30 after a layup from Wolosik midway through the quarter. Minutes later D'Anna converted a traditional three-point play to extend the lead to 55-20 at the 2:13-mark.

IUP kept Pitt-Johnstown out of reach as the Crimson Hawks did not lead by less than 25 points during the fourth quarter. A Courtney Alexander (Pittsburgh, Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) jumper midway through the quarter gave IUP a 69-37 lead. The Crimson Hawks finished the game on a 9-2 run while limiting the Mountain Cats to just 1-for-11 shooting during the final 5:18 of the game.

Pitt-Johnstown was led by a team-high 16 points from McCabe. McCabe also added nine rebounds while Jamie Tabon added 10 points.
The Crimson Hawks shot at a 41.5 percent (27-of-65) clip compared to just 26.9 percent (14-of-52) for the Mountain Cats. Pitt-Johnstown held a slim 42-40 rebounding edge while the Crimson Hawks bench outscored the Mountain Cats by a 25-2 edge.

Up Next
IUP continues PSAC West play on Friday, January 6 when it travels to Slippery Rock with tip-off set for 5 p.m.

Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.