Pitt
18-9, 8-6
Syracuse
20-8, 10-5
Pitt Falls to No. 25 Syracuse, 68-54
2/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score | Box Score (PDF) | Season Statistics
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - In a tale of two halves, the University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team (18-9, 8-6 ACC) was defeated by No. 25 Syracuse (20-8, 10-5) on Sunday afternoon by the score of 68-54 at the Carrier Dome.
The Panthers shots 51.5 percent in the first half, but just 17.9 percent in the second half as the Orange erased a six point halftime deficit to rally for the victory.
Monica Wignot led three players in double figures with 14 points, followed by Yacine Diop with 12 and Brianna Kiesel with 11. Stasha Carey was one point shy of a double-double with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Syracuse's Brianna Butler led the Orange with 19 points, followed by Briana Day with 15 points and 18 rebounds. Alexis Peterson chipped in with 14 points.
The two teams traded the lead in the early going and the game went to the under 12 media timeout tied at 15-15. Wignot scored nine of those points and made her first four shots from the floor.
The lead would change four more times and once again, the game was tied at the under-8 media timeout 24-24. Wignot continued her hot shooting and had 14 of the team's first 24 points.
After Syracuse hit a 3-pointer to go ahead 27-26, Kiesel answered with a three of her own and then made a pair of free throws to give the Panthers a 31-27 lead with 4:19 remaining in the half. Those five points were during a 10-2 Pitt run which gave the Panthers a 36-29 lead with 2:05 remaining, forcing SU in a timeout.
Behind 51 percent shooting in the half, Pitt took a 41-35 lead in the locker room. Wignot led the way with 14 points, while Kiesel added 10 points and Diop eight.
The Panthers came out of the break with four turnovers which allowed Syracuse to go on an 8-0 run, giving the Orange a 43-41 lead with 17:25 remaining.
The Panthers regained their balance took a 50-48 lead with an offensive rebounds and put back from Diop with 11:41 left.
From that point though, Syracuse held Pitt scoreless for a four minute span and another 8-0 run gave the Orange a 56-50 lead with 7:48 left in the contest.
Pitt was cold from the field down the stretch as the Orange outscored the Panthers 12-6 in the final seven minutes of the game for the victory.
The Panthers are back in action next Thursday when they take on No. 4 Notre Dame in South Bend.
