Friday, December 21
Pittsburgh, Pa.
7 PM
Pitt
(8-5)
78
vs
75
Saint Francis (Pa.)
(3-9)
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Saint Francis (PA)
10
25
15
19
6
75
Pitt
17
6
27
19
9
78
Pitt Fights Back To Knock Off Saint Francis (PA) In Overtime, 78-75
12/21/2018 10:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team (8-5, 0-0 ACC) picked up another comeback victory on Friday night in front of the home fans at the Petersen Events Center as they took down the Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash 78-75 in overtime after trailing by as many as 12 in the first half. Pitt has now recorded back-to-back comeback victories of 12+ points for the first time in over a decade.
"This team just keeps finding a way to come back and show their true character and that's what we're about," said first-year head coach Lance White. "We're about a fourth quarter mentality and whenever your back's against the wall, you got to keep fighting and keep plugging and that's what I think this team has shown and done and I'm really proud of that effort."
Senior Danielle Garven had a career night for the Panthers on Friday as she went off for a career-best 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks across 33 minutes of work. The forward finished off her game going 9-for-19 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. Junior Jasmine Whitney dominated the second half and overtime for the Panthers as she scored all 17 of her points across the finals 25 minutes. She also dished out four assists while posting two steals and two rebounds while going 5-for-7 from the floor and 2-for-2 from deep. Cassidy Walsh continued her steady play with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.
With under a minute left and trailing by one, 68-67, Garven stepped up with her biggest bucket of the year as she drove to her left and finished off a contested layup to give Pitt the 69-68 lead. The Red Flash responded with a free throw to tie the game and grabbed an offensive rebound with 30 seconds left in the game. The Panthers defense then forced a turnover and Whitney had a shot at the buzzer to win it for Pitt but her effort just bounced off the rim, sending the game to overtime tied 69-69.
The Panthers defense came up big in the overtime period as they allowed just three points over the final 3:57 of the extra period while Pitt was able to net nine points. The Panthers focused in over the last four minutes and netted 7-of-8 from the charity stripe to seal the deal as Kyla Nelson sank the two final freebies of the night to secure the 78-75 overtime victory, the first OT win of the season for Pitt.
The Panthers were able to get out to the quick 3-0 lead behind a Walsh three-pointer but then the defenses took over as the score was 3-2 at the first media timeout. The offense picked up right out of the media timeout as Nelson and Garven netted buckets to give Pitt the 7-2 lead but the Red Flash were able to cut the lead to 9-7 after a deep triple. After another Saint Francis three cut the Pitt lead down to one, 11-10, the Panthers closed the quarter on a 6-0 run as Walsh, Garven and Nelson each finished off buckets to give the home side the 17-10 lead through 10 minutes.
The two teams opened the second quarter exchanging jumpers as Kalista Walters connected on her first bucket of the game. The Red Flash were then able to get hot from behind the arc as they made four straight triples to take their first lead of the game, 24-21, forcing a Pitt timeout with 4:26 left in the first half. The timeout didn't seem to help the Panthers as Saint Francis finished the half on a 11-2 run behind two more triples to take the 35-23 lead into the locker room.
The teams went back-and-forth early on in the third quarter before Whitney finished off a layup and free throw to cut into the Red Flash lead, making the score 39-32 in favor of the visitors. A Whitney three cut the deficit to six but the Red Flash came fighting back and made it a 12-point game, 44-32 with five minutes left in the third. The Panthers then turned up the defensive pressure and were able to finish the quarter on an 18-6 run that was sparked by Whitney and Kauai Bradley. Pitt finished the scoring with a Cara Judkins layup to tie the game up, 50-50, heading into the final quarter.
The Panthers continued the momentum into the fourth quarter as they scored the first seven points as Garven netted four points and Walsh drained her second triple of the game. Pitt pushed their lead out to eight, 63-55, as Whitney notched her second three of the night but the Red Flash fought back with a 7-0 run to make the scored 63-62 in favor of the home team with just over four minutes to play. The Red Flash were then able to regain the lead 68-67 but the Panthers responded with a Garven bucket to send the game to overtime where Pitt prevailed, 78-75.
Bradley did it all for the Panthers in the win as she netted eight points, eight rebounds, five assists, five steals and three blocks across 36 minutes of action. Nelson came off the bench and provided Pitt with eight points and four rebounds in 26 minutes in the win.
As a team, Pitt was able to forced 27 Saint Francis turnovers and they turned those chances into 29 points in the victory. The Panthers won the rebounding battle 44-42 while also winning the fast break scoring category 18-13.
Saint Francis was led offensively by Jess Kovatch who netted a game-high 26 points while Aunesha Williams came off the bench and provided the Red Flash with 12 points and seven boards in the loss.
Pitt will now take a little break from competition for the holidays as they will return to the court on Dec. 29 as they head to Duquesne for the City game at 2:00 pm. The game against the Dukes will be the first road game for the Panthers since Nov. 29 when they traveled to Northwestern and took down the Wildcats in the ACC/B1G Challenge.
PITT NOTES
Team
"This team just keeps finding a way to come back and show their true character and that's what we're about," said first-year head coach Lance White. "We're about a fourth quarter mentality and whenever your back's against the wall, you got to keep fighting and keep plugging and that's what I think this team has shown and done and I'm really proud of that effort."
Senior Danielle Garven had a career night for the Panthers on Friday as she went off for a career-best 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks across 33 minutes of work. The forward finished off her game going 9-for-19 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. Junior Jasmine Whitney dominated the second half and overtime for the Panthers as she scored all 17 of her points across the finals 25 minutes. She also dished out four assists while posting two steals and two rebounds while going 5-for-7 from the floor and 2-for-2 from deep. Cassidy Walsh continued her steady play with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.
With under a minute left and trailing by one, 68-67, Garven stepped up with her biggest bucket of the year as she drove to her left and finished off a contested layup to give Pitt the 69-68 lead. The Red Flash responded with a free throw to tie the game and grabbed an offensive rebound with 30 seconds left in the game. The Panthers defense then forced a turnover and Whitney had a shot at the buzzer to win it for Pitt but her effort just bounced off the rim, sending the game to overtime tied 69-69.
The Panthers defense came up big in the overtime period as they allowed just three points over the final 3:57 of the extra period while Pitt was able to net nine points. The Panthers focused in over the last four minutes and netted 7-of-8 from the charity stripe to seal the deal as Kyla Nelson sank the two final freebies of the night to secure the 78-75 overtime victory, the first OT win of the season for Pitt.
The Panthers were able to get out to the quick 3-0 lead behind a Walsh three-pointer but then the defenses took over as the score was 3-2 at the first media timeout. The offense picked up right out of the media timeout as Nelson and Garven netted buckets to give Pitt the 7-2 lead but the Red Flash were able to cut the lead to 9-7 after a deep triple. After another Saint Francis three cut the Pitt lead down to one, 11-10, the Panthers closed the quarter on a 6-0 run as Walsh, Garven and Nelson each finished off buckets to give the home side the 17-10 lead through 10 minutes.
The two teams opened the second quarter exchanging jumpers as Kalista Walters connected on her first bucket of the game. The Red Flash were then able to get hot from behind the arc as they made four straight triples to take their first lead of the game, 24-21, forcing a Pitt timeout with 4:26 left in the first half. The timeout didn't seem to help the Panthers as Saint Francis finished the half on a 11-2 run behind two more triples to take the 35-23 lead into the locker room.
The teams went back-and-forth early on in the third quarter before Whitney finished off a layup and free throw to cut into the Red Flash lead, making the score 39-32 in favor of the visitors. A Whitney three cut the deficit to six but the Red Flash came fighting back and made it a 12-point game, 44-32 with five minutes left in the third. The Panthers then turned up the defensive pressure and were able to finish the quarter on an 18-6 run that was sparked by Whitney and Kauai Bradley. Pitt finished the scoring with a Cara Judkins layup to tie the game up, 50-50, heading into the final quarter.
The Panthers continued the momentum into the fourth quarter as they scored the first seven points as Garven netted four points and Walsh drained her second triple of the game. Pitt pushed their lead out to eight, 63-55, as Whitney notched her second three of the night but the Red Flash fought back with a 7-0 run to make the scored 63-62 in favor of the home team with just over four minutes to play. The Red Flash were then able to regain the lead 68-67 but the Panthers responded with a Garven bucket to send the game to overtime where Pitt prevailed, 78-75.
Bradley did it all for the Panthers in the win as she netted eight points, eight rebounds, five assists, five steals and three blocks across 36 minutes of action. Nelson came off the bench and provided Pitt with eight points and four rebounds in 26 minutes in the win.
As a team, Pitt was able to forced 27 Saint Francis turnovers and they turned those chances into 29 points in the victory. The Panthers won the rebounding battle 44-42 while also winning the fast break scoring category 18-13.
Saint Francis was led offensively by Jess Kovatch who netted a game-high 26 points while Aunesha Williams came off the bench and provided the Red Flash with 12 points and seven boards in the loss.
Pitt will now take a little break from competition for the holidays as they will return to the court on Dec. 29 as they head to Duquesne for the City game at 2:00 pm. The game against the Dukes will be the first road game for the Panthers since Nov. 29 when they traveled to Northwestern and took down the Wildcats in the ACC/B1G Challenge.
PITT NOTES
Team
- With the win, the Panthers now own the 10-3 advantage over the Red Flash in the all-time series while they also improved to 52-3 (.945) against NEC opponents all-time
- Pitt won its 14th straight game against an opponent from the Northeast Conference
- Pitt improves to 7-0 this season when scoring at least 60 points
- The 78 points scored are tied for the second most points the Panthers have scored this season
- The 46 second half points by Pitt are the most they have scored in second half this season
- The Panthers had three players score in double figures for the second straight game
- The Pitt defense forced 27 turnovers on the night, marking their second game forcing at least 20 turnovers
- Pitt recorded 11 steals on the night as they now have five games this season with 10+ steals
- Started her ninth straight game for the Panthers
- Scored a career-high 20 points as she has now scored in double figures seven times this season
- Grabbed a season-high nine rebounds including three offensive boards
- Her nine made field goals are a career-high while her two blocked shots are a new season-high for the senior
- Has played 30+ minutes six times this season including in four of her last five games
- Earned her 10th straight start at point guard
- Finished off her night with 17 points on 5-for-7 from the floor and 2-for-2 from behind the arc
- She has recorded double figures in scoring five times this season
- Dished out four assists and has seven games this season with at least four helpers
- Played 33 minutes as she has now gone over the 30 minute plateau on five occasions
- She is the lone Panther to start all 13 games this season
- Finished off her night with 12 points on 5-for-15 from the floor and 2-for-8 from behind the arc
- Has now scored in double figures a team-high eight times this season
- Played a career-high 40 minutes. She has now played 30+ minutes a career-high eight times this season
- Grabbed six rebounds and notched two steals in the win
Team Stats
SFUW
UP
FG%
.373
.456
3FG%
.364
.222
FT%
.565
.600
RB
42
44
TO
27
25
STL
11
15
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's BasketballForward
/ Women's Basketball
Center
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's Basketball
Center
/ Women's BasketballGuard
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