PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche women's basketball bounce back in a big way, upending the defending PAC champion Chatham Cougars, 61-56 on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams locked up in a defensive battle, from the jump, with both teams trading 4-0 runs in the early stages of the first quarter.

The rest of the way, the teams would trade baskets, but Chatham took a 13-11 lead into the second.

The Redhawks opened the second quarter with a quick 3-0 spurt to take a brief lead and from there, the teams played suffocating defense to head to the locker rooms tied at 22-22.

Out of the locker room, the Cougars pushed ahead with a 7-2 run, making it a 29-24 game, but an 8-2 run by La Roche gave the lead back to the red and black.

With 1:46 the Redhawks pushed ahead by five to make it 42-37, but Chatham countered to end the frame with its own 5-0 run to even the score at 42-42.

The final quarter was much of the same, tough defense, limited scoring and neither team leading by more than three points.

The lead was just that, three, as the Cougars led 56-53 with 2:23 to go, but the red and black took over the rest of the way, using an 8-0 run at the end to pull out the victory.

For the game, La Roche shot 40.4% (21-for-52) from the floor and 4-for-12 (33.3%) from deep. From the charity stripe, they went 15-for-18 (83.3%).

On the other side, the Cougars went on to shoot 38.9% (21-for-54) from the field, 3-for-17 from deep (17.6%) and 11-for-16 (68.8%) from the foul line.

Four Redhawks scored in double figures with Makayla Abram netting 16 on 6-for-10 shooting, off the bench in 19 minutes. She also added six rebounds and two assists.

Alexis Robison poured in 12 points behind a trio of triples, with six rebounds, while Jazmine Dunn collected 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Dasja Anderson ended the day with 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

La Roche returns to the court Tuesday, Dec. 17 when it travels to Carnegie Mellon for a 2 p.m. tip-off.