
Photo by: JEFFREY A. CAMARATI
Pitt Comes Up Short In ACC Opener At UNC
12/30/2019 5:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, NC – The University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team opened up ACC play on Monday afternoon at the North Carolina Tar Heels with a 70-62 defeat. With the loss, Pitt falls to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in ACC play while the Tar Heels improve to 10-2 overall and 1-0 in ACC play.
The Panthers raced out to a quick 8-2 lead on Monday as Gabbie Green and Aysia Bugg knocked down back-to-back threes to open things up. Jahsyni Knight, making her first career start, then earned a steal and finished off a layup in transition to give Pitt the 10-4 lead just over three minutes into play. The Tar Heels responded with a 12-2 run to take the 16-12 lead before Dayshanette Harris took the ball coast-to-coast and finished a layup, sending the game to the second quarter with UNC ahead, 18-14.
The Tar Heels opened up the second quarter with a jumper but the Panthers responded quickly with a 7-0 run to take the 21-20 lead as Cara Judkins scored three points and Amber Brown took a rebound coast-to-coast and finished off a layup. North Carolina came right back with an 11-4 run of their own to take the 31-25 lead midway through the second quarter. Harris closed out the first half for the Panthers with three straight steals and layups as Pitt went to the locker room trailing the Tar Heels, 43-34.
Bugg opened the third quarter with a triple as the Panthers defense held the Tar Heels without a bucket for the first two minutes of the quarter. The Tar Heels pushed their lead out to 11 a pair of times down the stretch of the third but Marcella Lamark knocked down a triple to cut the deficit to eight heading into the final quarter.
The Tar Heels were able to push their lead out to 15, 61-46, early in the fourth quarter as the Panthers weren't able to hit a shot in the first two minutes of the quarter. The two teams exchanged buckets over the next five minutes before Pitt closed the game on a 7-0 run behind four straight from Brown and a triple from Green as Pitt dropped the ACC opener on the road, 70-62.
Pitt had three players in double figures on Monday as Bugg finished off her game with 11 points and three assists while Harris came off the bench and scored 11 points, four rebounds and three steals. Judkins finished off her game with 10 points, four boards and two blocks while Brown had a big game on the boards, finishing with a career-high 13 rebounds to go along with seven points, two assists and two steals.
As a team, UNC shot 37.7% from the floor while the Panthers finished the loss shooting 37.5% from the field. Pitt struggled from the free throw line for the second straight game as they went 8-for-19 in the loss. The Panthers outscored UNC 13-4 in the fast break scoring category while also forcing 15 turnovers and netting 18 points off of those turnovers.
The Tar Heels were led offensively by Madinah Muhammad who netted 20 points and eight rebounds while Taylor Koenen finished off her afternoon with 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the win.
NEXT UP
TEAM
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The Panthers raced out to a quick 8-2 lead on Monday as Gabbie Green and Aysia Bugg knocked down back-to-back threes to open things up. Jahsyni Knight, making her first career start, then earned a steal and finished off a layup in transition to give Pitt the 10-4 lead just over three minutes into play. The Tar Heels responded with a 12-2 run to take the 16-12 lead before Dayshanette Harris took the ball coast-to-coast and finished a layup, sending the game to the second quarter with UNC ahead, 18-14.
The Tar Heels opened up the second quarter with a jumper but the Panthers responded quickly with a 7-0 run to take the 21-20 lead as Cara Judkins scored three points and Amber Brown took a rebound coast-to-coast and finished off a layup. North Carolina came right back with an 11-4 run of their own to take the 31-25 lead midway through the second quarter. Harris closed out the first half for the Panthers with three straight steals and layups as Pitt went to the locker room trailing the Tar Heels, 43-34.
Bugg opened the third quarter with a triple as the Panthers defense held the Tar Heels without a bucket for the first two minutes of the quarter. The Tar Heels pushed their lead out to 11 a pair of times down the stretch of the third but Marcella Lamark knocked down a triple to cut the deficit to eight heading into the final quarter.
The Tar Heels were able to push their lead out to 15, 61-46, early in the fourth quarter as the Panthers weren't able to hit a shot in the first two minutes of the quarter. The two teams exchanged buckets over the next five minutes before Pitt closed the game on a 7-0 run behind four straight from Brown and a triple from Green as Pitt dropped the ACC opener on the road, 70-62.
Pitt had three players in double figures on Monday as Bugg finished off her game with 11 points and three assists while Harris came off the bench and scored 11 points, four rebounds and three steals. Judkins finished off her game with 10 points, four boards and two blocks while Brown had a big game on the boards, finishing with a career-high 13 rebounds to go along with seven points, two assists and two steals.
As a team, UNC shot 37.7% from the floor while the Panthers finished the loss shooting 37.5% from the field. Pitt struggled from the free throw line for the second straight game as they went 8-for-19 in the loss. The Panthers outscored UNC 13-4 in the fast break scoring category while also forcing 15 turnovers and netting 18 points off of those turnovers.
The Tar Heels were led offensively by Madinah Muhammad who netted 20 points and eight rebounds while Taylor Koenen finished off her afternoon with 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the win.
NEXT UP
- Pitt will return home for their next two games starting on Thursday night as they welcome Notre Dame to the Petersen Events Center for a 7:00 pm tip.
- The Panthers will then host Boston College on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 2:00 pm inside the Pete.
TEAM
- With the loss, Pitt is now 6-4 all-time against the Tar Heels including 1-3 in Chapel Hill.
- The Panthers are now 0-7 all-time in ACC openers.
- Finished off her afternoon with seven points, a career-high 13 rebounds, two assists and two steals across 31 minutes.
- Her 13 rebounds are a career-high and she now has six games with 10+ boards this season.
- She finished the game going 3-for-9 from the floor.
- She has now recorded four or more rebounds in all 12 of her career games.
- Played 30+ minutes for the 10th time this season on Monday.
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Team Stats
Pitt
UNC
FG%
.375
.377
3FG%
.375
.350
FT%
.421
.786
RB
39
47
TO
11
15
STL
11
5
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