GREENSBURG, Pa:  A fast start and a well-balanced offense by the Pitt-Greensburg women's basketball team led to a 77-67 win over Franciscan in Wednesday's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference basketball action. 

The victory improves the Bobcats to 7-6 in the AMCC, moving them into the #4 spot with five conference games remaining.  Overall, UPG stands at 9-10 while Franciscan moves to 5-8 in conference play and 6-13 on the year.

The Bobcats got things rolling early, opening the game on a 17-6 run that ended with an Amanda Estok (Monroeville, PA, Gateway) three pointer with 1:45 remaining in the first.  The Barons would add a pair of buckets to bring themselves closer, but two Sylvia Stuart (Harrisburg, PA, Central Dauphin East) free throws with 15 tics left gave UPG a 19-10 lead to close out the quarter.

Pitt-Greensburg was right back at in the second, stretching the advantage to as many as 25 points on two occasions.  The first coming with 2:53 remaining on an Estok layup and the latter on a Kelsey Oddis (Lower Burrell, PA, Burrell) layup at the 2:22 mark to bring the score to 43-18.  For the second straight quarter, Franciscan finished strong, tightening things up to 43-25 before the halftime buzzer sounded.

The Bobcats shot effectively over the first half, converting 46.7% of their opportunities and 50% (5-10) of their shots from behind the three point arc.

A Casey Hamilton (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) layup just past the midway point of the third gave UPG their largest lead of 26 at 51-25, but prompted a Baron comeback charge. 

Over the next quarter, Franciscan would cut into the Bobcat advantage and at 3:09 remaining in the fourth finally narrowed things to single digits at 65-56.  Despite the rally, Pitt-Greensburg stood strong.  They'd take care of business from the foul line, never letting the Barons any closer on their way to clinching the 77-67 final.

Franciscan held a slight shooting advantage overall at 47.2% to 46% but the Bobcats were on target from three.  They'd outshoot the Barons 41.2% (7-17) to 10% (1-10) from downtown and hold a distinct advantage from the foul line as well, 82% (24-29) to 64% (16-25).  UPG also outrebounded the visitors by a 34-27 margin.

Four different Bobcats would produce double-digit scoring efforts starting with Oddis's 18 points, seven boards, and three steals.  Stuart was next, scoring 14 while adding five rebounds, and 3 blocks.  Estok chipped in with 13 points and Emily Nelson (New Stanton, PA, Hempfield) rounded out the top performers with 12 points and 3 steals.

Pitt-Greensburg returns to action on Saturday, February 6^th hosting the Medaille Mavericks for a 8:00pm AMCC matchup on the campus of Seton Hill University.