University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
St. Francis (PA)
Pitt Women's Basketball Falls 85-71 at St. Francis Pa.
12/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2010
LORETTO, Pa. - Despite five players in double figures for the second straight game, Pitt women's basketball could not sustain St. Francis (Pa) as the Panthers dropped an 85-71 decision on Wednesday night at DeGol Arena.
Seniors Shayla Scott (Monroeville, Pa.) and Taneisha Harrison (Bowie, Md.) led Pitt scorers with 14 points apiece. Brittaney Thomas (Montgomery, Ala.) scored 13 points while Jania Sims (Newark, N.J.) had 12 points and nine assists for the Panthers (3-3).
Samantha Leach paced St. Francis (3-4) with 29 points, 24 of those in the second half. Allison Daly had 20 for the Red Flash, who registered their third win in nine meetings over their in-state rival.
SFU scored 15 of their first 17 points from long-range. Daly connected on the squad's fifth triple in the first 5:20 of play to push the Red Flash to a 17-15 early lead.
After a free throw made it a three-point home team edge, the Panthers responded with a furious rally. Pitt scored the game's next 10-straight points, commenced by a two consecutive 3-pointers from Scott. Freshman Marquel Davis (Fredericksburg, Va.) ended the spurt with a short jumper to give Pitt its largest lead at 25-18 with 11:57 to go in the period.
The teams combined to make 16 of 25 (.640) shots in the first eight minutes of the game.
The Red Flash used an 8-0 run - highlighted by two 3-pointers - to take a 32-30 lead with 6:14 left in the half. On the next Pitt possession, Scott drained her third triple of the stanza to put the Panthers back ahead by one. The teams traded points the remainder of the first stanza with St. Francis taking a 42-40 edge into the locker room. The first half featured 12 lead changes and eight ties.
SFU roared out of the second half on a 9-0 tear with Shene' Fleming capping the run with an offensive put-back with 17:53 to go to give the home team a 51-40 lead. The Panthers got a pair of triples from Scott and Harrison on consecutive possessions and a lay-in by redshirt freshman Ashlee Anderson (Chicago, Ill.) sandwiched a St. Francis bucket to cut the deficit to three (53-50).
Pitt closed to three for the second time of the half at 58-55 on an offensive follow from Anderson with 12:30 remaining. The Red Flash responded with a 5-0 run, including a three-pointer from Leach to move ahead 63-55 with 11:13 to go. After SFU went ahead by nine with just under 10 minutes showing, Pitt rallied behind the play of Thomas. The senior scored nine of Pitt's next 11 points as the gap closed to four at 73-69 with 4:45 on the clock.
The Panthers would get no closer as Leach hit her fifth three-pointer on St. Francis' next trip down the court.
The Red Flash shot 53.8 percent on the evening while the Panthers connected on 44.3 percent of their shots.
Pitt is back in action on Saturday, Dec. 4, entertaining Mount St. Mary's at 6 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center.
