Pitt
Rutgers
Rutgers Downs No. 22 Panthers, 52-46
1/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2010
Box Score | Quotes | Notes
PITTSBURGH — Taneisha Harrison scored 13 points and Pepper Wilson had a season-high 10 rebounds, but No. 22-ranked Pitt dropped a 52-46 decision to Big East foe Rutgers in a defensive showdown at the Petersen Events Center.
The two teams combined for 38 turnovers as Pitt got to its first 0-3 conference start under head coach Agnus Berenato.
“Congratulations to Rutgers; they played a hard-fought game,” Berenato said. “Both teams did. [But] we got caught up playing in their kind of style…We didn’t want that.”
The Panthers (11-5, 0-3 Big East) kept things close throughout the entire game, but it was obvious from the tip that the contest would come down to the final minutes. No player on either team reached double-figures in the first half as each team made just nine field goals in the first period of play.
Harrison, a junior guard who entered the game averaging 12.5 points per game, knocked in a fall-away jumper from just beyond the free throw line with time expiring in the first half to cut Rutgers’ advantage to 27-25, but Pitt couldn’t continue to build momentum in the second half. The Panthers shot just 21 percent from the floor in the final period of play.
Despite struggling offensively, Pitt used 3-pointers from Shayla Scott and Harrison, along with two clutch free throws from redshirt senior guard Sophronia Sallard to cut Rutgers’ lead to just two with 1:30 left to play. Pitt then had a chance to tie or take the lead with less than a minute remaining, but couldn’t capitalize.
The Panthers shot 12-of-15 from the free throw line, while Rutgers knocked down 15 of its 25 shots.
Sallard and junior guard Jania Sims added eight points each for Pitt. Scott added a career-high in assists (6) and scored five points in 28 minutes of play.
Center Rashidat Junaid (16 points) and guard Brittany Ray (17 points) led the way for the Scarlet Knights.
Pitt is in action again next Sunday at home against West Virginia in the women’s basketball version of the Backyard Brawl. Tip is set for 4 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Panthers will then have two road games at South Florida (Jan. 20) and Providence (Jan. 23) before returning home to host Connecticut on Jan. 30.
