FOX CHAPEL — North Catholic was staring at elimination.

And head coach Molly Rottmann had a few words for her Trojanettes at halftime.

“I don't yell at them very often, but I did some yelling then,” Rottmann admitted. “I just told them to leave it all out on the floor in the second half.

“We were being beaten by offensive rebounds, not getting to loose balls, panicking, throwing balls away ... That's not the way we wanted to go out.”

They didn't.

The Trojanettes turned a 30-14 halftime deficit into a 47-41 come-from-behind victory over Blackhawk in the second round of the PIAA Class 4A girls basketball tournament Wednesday night at Fox Chapel.

The Cougars (20-6) sank 11 field goals in the first half, eight of them treys. They hit only four of 22 shots from the floor in the second half, managing to get off only five 3-point attempts.

Blackhawk scored only 11 points in the final two quarters as a result.

“We had to come out on them, play more aggressively,” North Catholic junior guard Tess Myers said. “We were giving up second and third-chance shots in the first half and they were hitting them.

“We had to take that away, force the issue a little more.”

Junior guard Kylee Lewandowski was at the head of that. The Butler resident was limited to two points in the first half, but struck for four field goals in the third period as the Trojanettes (24-3) pulled within five of the lead, 34-29, by quarter's end.

North Catholic took its first lead since the first quarter when Lucy Waskiewicz sank a layup for a 36-35 Trojanette edge with 4:15 left in the game. Lewandowski extended the lead to three with a short jumper at the 3:06 mark.

The shot gave her 1,001 points for her career.

“Getting 1,000 points in high school is something I've dreamed about since fourth grade,” Lewandowski said. “To get it at an important time in a state tournament game like this is fantastic.”

Lewandowski scored 185 points during her freshman year at Butler. She has scored 816 points in two years at North Catholic.

She became the third Trojanette to hit the 1,000-point plateau this year, joining Tess Myers and Dani Short.

“These girls were so accepting of me right from the start,” Lewandowski said. “I'm having a great time playing here.”

A Cassie Foster layup enabled the Trojanettes to go up 40-35 with 2:11 to play. Blackhawk sank its only two treys of the second half in the final two minutes, but could not muster enough offense to stop North Catholic's surge.

“When we hit our shots, we're able to set up our press and get some turnovers,” Cougars coach Steve Lodovico said. “We couldn't hit any shots in the second half and were backing up on defense. That's where their size took over.

“We just picked the wrong time to go cold.”

The Trojanettes had 10 turnovers in the first half, but only three in the second. Blackhawk had eight of its 11 turnovers in the second half.

“Blackhawk has a great team and I wasn't sure if we'd be able to come back on them,” Rottmann said. “The girls just cracked down.”

Lewandowski had 12 points, 15 rebounds, four steals and four assists for North Catholic. Foster had 12 points, hitting four of six free throws in the final quarter.

Myers contributed seven points, six steals, six rebounds and three assists while Emma Pospisil had four assists, Short nine rebounds.

“Kylee gives so much to our team,” Rottmann said. “Her rebounding in the second half was a big part of our comeback. She can hit the three, sink the floater, go to the hoop ... There are a lot of aspects to her game.”

Amalia Mackenzie led Blackhawk with 19 points. Macy Albach added 11 and the two combined to sink nine treys.

“We couldn't get the offensive rebounds in the second half we were getting in the first,” Lodovico said. “They (Trojanettes) had a lot to do with that. They just got after it.”

North Catholic will play Villa Maria in the Class 4A quarterfinals Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

“This will be the third straight year we'll play them in the state tournament,” Lewandowski said. “It's like a rivalry.”

BLACKHAWK 41

Mackenzie Amalia 7-21 0-0 19, Mady Aulbach 4-17 0-0 12, Olivia Roberts 0-6 1-2 1, Ava Haddox 1-6 0-0 2, Sierra Richard 1-1 0-0 2, Jolie Strati 1-4 0-0 3, Alivia Thompson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 15-57 1-2 41.

NORTH CATHOLIC 47

Emma Pospisil 2-8 0-0 5, Cassie Foster 3-7 5-8 12, Kylee Lewandowski 6-15 0-0 12, Lucy Waskiewicz 3-4 1-4 7, Tess Myers 2-14 2-2 7, Dani Short 2-5 0-0 4, Belle O'Hara 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 18-55 8-14 47.

Blackhawk 17 13 4 7 — 41

North Catholic10 4 15 18 — 47

3-point goals: Amalia 5, Aulbach 4, Strati; Pospisil, Foster, Myers

Saturday: PIAA 4A quarterfinals-North Catholic vs. Villa Maria, site and time TBA