GREENSBURG – The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg women's basketball team posted a season-high 62 points en route to defeating the University of Mount Union, 62-50, this evening inside Chambers Hall.
Freshman guard, Melina Maietta led the charge for the Bobcats scoring a career, and game, high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Fellow guard, Sidney McCully played all 40 minutes and filled up the stat line, scoring 15 points, swiping a career-high six steals, pulling down four rebounds, and dishing two assists.
Pitt Greensburg was in control for nearly the whole game, leading for all but about three minutes early in the first quarter. The Bobcats took a 9-7 lead at the six-minute mark in the first on a layup by Maietta and they would not give back the lead after that point. They finished the first quarter on a 6-0 run over the final three minutes to take an eight-point, 22-14, lead into the second frame.
The Pitt-Greensburg advantage got as high as 17 in the second quarter after another Maietta lay-in 13 seconds before halftime. Mount Union beat the buzzer from long range to make it 40-26 at the break.
Maietta nailed a three pointer with 6:48 to play in the third quarter to give the Bobcats their largest lead of the game at 18, 47-29. The Purple Raiders answered with a 12-1 run to end the third quarter after Maietta's triple and brought it back within single digits, 48-41, heading into the fourth.
The Bobcats answered the call and put the game out of reach with a 12-2 run over the opening five minutes of the final frame, returning the lead to 17 points, 60-43. Shaquoia McCray made a layup to kickstart the run, while McCully finished it off with four straight points.
Pitt-Greensburg shot a season-best 40.4% from the field and cashed in on four three-pointers, tied for the most so far this season. They worked the inside effectively as well, outscoring Mount Union 28 to 18 in the paint. On the defensive end the Bobcats were active causing 21 Purple Raider turnovers and swiping 14 steals.
Mount Union did hold a rebounding advantage, 42-36, and pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, but the lockdown defense by Pitt-Greensburg only allowed seven second chance points.
Nadege Durand was in double figures for the fourth straight game to start the season with 14 points. Shaquoia McCray owned the boards for the Blue and Gold, pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.
Pitt-Greensburg will hit the road for two non-conference games, before returning to Chambers Hall for the start of AMCC play on Saturday, December 4. The road trip begins with a matchup against Grove City on Tuesday at 3 pm.
Fans can follow the Bobcats all year long online at PittGreensburgAthletics.com, as well as on Twitter (@upgbobcats), Instagram (@UPG_athletics), and Facebook (@UPGbobcats).
