Pitt Comes Up Short to No. 2/2 Louisville, 77-51

Thursday, January 18

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 P.M.

Pitt

(9-10, 1-5ACC)

Louisville

(20-0, 6-0ACC)

Louisville

Pitt

Pitt Comes Up Short to No. 2/2 Louisville, 77-51

1/18/2018 10:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Diop Ties Career High, Walters Records Fifth Double-Double

PITTSBURGH – Redshirt junior forward Yacine Diop tied a career high with 26 points for Pitt women's basketball (9-10, 1-5 ACC) in a hard-fought battle against No. 2/2 Louisville (20-0, 6-0 ACC) as the Panthers came up short, 77-51, Thursday night at Petersen Events Center.

The game marked Diop's sixth game with 20 or more points this season and her third since the start of ACC play.

Junior center Kalista Walters recorded her fifth double-double of the year for Pitt with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore point guard Jasmine Whitney tied a season high with eight assists and added four points. Off the bench, sophomore Alayna Gribble had nine points on three 3-pointers, and freshman forward Cara Judkins produced a career-high six rebounds as well as two points.

Louisville junior guard Asia Durr, who entered the contest as the ACC's leading scorer with 21.1 points per game, was limited to nine points. Senior Myisha Hines-Allen had a double-double of 13 points and 18 rebounds.

The Cardinals outshot the Panthers, 49.2 percent (29-of-59) to 42.0 percent (21-of-50), and had the upper hand on the boards, 36-26.

The Panthers took a slim 5-2 lead at the 8:32 mark in the first quarter following a Diop triple. The Cardinals answered with a 16-2 run that lasted until 2:45 to earn their largest lead of the half (18-7). Pitt ended the quarter outscoring Louisville, 9-2, including two 3-pointers from Gribble, to come within four at the first break (20-16).

Pitt stayed within six points of the Cards for the first four minutes of the second quarter. A 7-2 run by the Panthers, which ended with a Diop three, put them within one point (30-29) at 4:39. Diop started the game making 7-of-7 from the field with two 3-pointers, with her first miss coming at the 3:56 mark. Pitt ended the half down four to Louisville (35-31) with the redshirt junior forward leading all scorers with 19 points.

After the Cardinals opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run to reach their largest lead of the period (43-31), the Panthers closed the gap with a 10-5 run of their own to make it a seven-point game with 3:43 remaining before the fourth quarter. Walters scored eight of her 10 total points in the third quarter, with her final layup coming with seven seconds left to make it a 10-point game heading into the final 10 minutes (53-43).

An 18-0 run by Louisville to start the fourth quarter put the game away. The Cardinals reached their largest lead of 28 (71-43) with 5:45 left to play. The Panthers were able to outscore Louisville 7-6 over the final three minutes to make the final score 77-51.

MILESTONES

Yacine Diop: tied career-high points (26)
Kalista Walters: fifth double-double of season, sixth of career (10 points, 10 rebounds)
Cara Judkins: career-high rebounds (six), career-high assists (two)
Jasmine Whitney: tied season-high assists (eight)

UP NEXT

The Panthers will pay a visit to Syracuse Sunday, Jan. 21, at 2 p.m. inside the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. The game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra, available on the WatchESPN app.

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