FROSTBURG, Md. - The Frostburg State Women's Basketball team dropped their season opener in the Jim Crawley Conference Challenge to Pitt-Johnstown 74-64 Friday night at Bobcat Arena.
After being set back to an early 6-0 deficit, freshman Emilee Weakley and senior Maggie Sharp both hit a pair of free throws and then graduate Shelby Funchess snagged an offensive rebound and put it in to tie the game at 6-6. UPJ would push their lead to 15-10, but junior Rhiana Hall would answer with back-to-back driving layups and a free throw to tie it at 15-15. UPJ would close the quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 21-16 lead after one period of play.
Senior Arianna Briggs-Hall would make her presence known at the start of the second, as she recorded two offensive rebounds and turned them both into two buckets. Weakley and junior Mackenzie Freeze would both contribute four points apiece in the final minutes of the second to cut the UPJ lead to 32-28, but the Bobcats would go into the locker room trailing 34-29.
Pitt-Johnstown would come out firing from all cylinders in the third, as they quickly went on an 11-0 run to take a 45-29 lead three minutes into the second half. Hall and Weakley combined to score the next 10 points for Frostburg, as they cut the deficit to 10 at 49-39. Sharp hit her stride midway through the quarter, as she buried two three-pointers to bring the Bobcats within seven with a minute left to play. Weakley and senior Ciara Thomas would both knock down a pair of free throws at the end of the quarter to trim the deficit to six, but the Mountain Cats hit a three at the buzzer to go up 59-51 heading into the fourth.
Weakley and Hall both added tough layups early in the fourth quarter, but Frostburg was unable to get a defensive stop as UPJ took a commanding 69-55 lead with a little less than five minutes to play. Sharp got the Frostburg crowd going again as she hit a timely three and a tough jumper to cut the deficit to 11, but Pitt-Johnstown was too much to handle offensively down the stretch, as they pulled away with a victory by the score of 74-64.
Weakley led the charge for FSU, as she impressed in her collegiate debut with a double-double, chipping in 24 points, 11 rebounds, and going 14-16 from the charity stripe. Sharp contributed 14 points and Hall added 11 off the bench for the Bobcats.
With the loss, Frostburg drops to 0-1 on the young season and Pitt-Johnstown climbs to 1-0. The Bobcats will be back in action tomorrow, November 12 at 3 P.M. in Bobcat Arena as they will take on Shepherd in the final game of the Jim Crawley Conference Challenge. For more information on Frostburg Athletics, visit www.frostburgsports .edu.
Â
