University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Women's Basketball Drops 72-68 Heartbreaker to Notre Dame
2/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Women's Basketball Drops 72-68 Heartbreaker to Notre Dame
2/21/2004
PITTSBURGH
After falling behind by 14 points, 55-41, with just over 16 minutes remaining in the contest, Pittsburgh put the clamps on the Fighting Irish and clawed its way back into the contest. The Panthers went on a 16-3 run over the next eight minutes, capped off by a free throw from freshman Jennifer Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y./Martin Luther King) to pull them to within one point, 58-57.
Notre Dame stretched the lead back to six points, 63-57, but once again Pittsburgh refused to go away. The Panthers eventually grabbed the lead, 68-67, on a desperation 3-pointer by junior guard Amy Kunich (Monroeville, Pa./Oakland Catholic). Kunich?s 3-pointer hit nothing by nylon as the shot clock expired with 2:18 remaining.
However, the Fighting Irish scored the game?s final five points, including 5-of-8 free throws in the final 1:31 of the contest, to pick up the win and stay unbeaten in 14 tries against Pittsburgh in the all-time series.
The Panthers shot 44 percent (27 of 62) from the field and 35 percent (6 of 17) from behind the 3-point arc in the game. The Fighting Irish hit 57 percent (26 of 46) of its field goals and 42 percent (5 of 12) of its 3-pointers.
Notre Dame led 40-37 at the intermission after Pittsburgh took a three-point lead (35-32) with just under two minutes remaining in the first half.
Latoya Kincaid (West Helena, Ark./Central) led all scorers with 24 points before fouling out with over five minutes to go in the game. Kincaid also pulled down six rebounds and added three steals. Brown added 12 points and a game-high nine boards for the Panthers while Katie Histed (Waverly, N.Y./Waverly) pitched in 11 markers, including three 3-pointers.
Jacueline Batteast led Notre Dame with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Pittsburgh takes the week off before taking its last road trip of the season next weekend. The Panthers hit the road for a matchup against Virginia Tech on Saturday, Feb. 28, in Blacksburg, Va. Tip off is set for 2:30 p.m.
NOTES: Pittsburgh outrebounded Notre Dame, 32-30...the Panthers had 11 steals to the Fighting Irish? nine...the 7,814 in attendance was the second-largest crowd at the Petersen Events Center for a women?s game. Last year against Connecticut, Pittsburgh drew 12,687.
