JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania - After two big wins in their last 2 contests, Salem women's basketball headed up north to take on the Mountain Cats of Pitt-Johnstown for a Tuesday evening matchup. Salem played well, but they fell in a tight 71-61 ball game. 

In the first quarter, it was the Mountain Cats who jumped out to the early lead. Undaunted, the Tigers answered right back with some big shots from Emerson Wells and Anna Machykova late in the period to bring the score to 19-15 favoring the Mountain Cats after one. 

In the second, Salem kept the pressure on by limiting Pitt-Johnstown to just 10 points in the period. The strong defensive performance was led by Kirsten Cross and Nerea Arambarri Fernandez who each had steals in the quarter. Salem was able to eat into the Mountain Cat lead, and brought it up to 29-25 by the end of the half. 

For the third period, Salem had an excellent chance to take control of the game by further eating away at the Pitt-Johnstown lead. However, The Mountain Cats proved to be a tough customer, and they seemed to rebuff each and every Tiger rally. Despite some strong play from Elena Pericic, Pitt-Johnstown controlled the game at the end of the third by a score of 55-44. 

In the fourth, Salem had their final chance to take control of the game and shorten the Pitt-Johnstown lead. They did a solid job of that initially as they brought the game within 2. Unfortunately, Salem fell back behind down the stretch, and the Mountain Cats came away with a 71-61 win. 

On the stats sheet, Salem was led by Elena Pericic as she scored 20 points and contributed a team-high 7 rebounds. Nerea Arambarri Fernandez and Emerson Wells both scored in double figures with 11 and 10 respectively. 

Despite the less than ideal result tonight, Salem has a unique opportunity after the Thanksgiving break. They will be competing in the Mount McKinley Bank North Star Invitational hosted by University of Alaska-Fairbanks on November 25th and 26th. They will take on Montana State-Billings in Fairbanks at 9 PM Eastern on the 25th, and they match up with the host Alaska-Fairbanks at 11:30 PM Eastern on the 26th.