Panthers Fall On The Road To #18 Syracuse

Thursday, February 21

Syracuse, N.Y.

7 PM

Pitt

10-18, 1-13

Syracuse

20-6, 9-4

Pittsburgh

Syracuse

Panthers Fall On The Road To #18 Syracuse

2/21/2019 9:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

SYRACUSE, NY – The University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team (10-18, 1-13 ACC) wasn't able to pull the road upset on Thursday night as the #18 Syracuse Orange handed the Panthers a 90-63 loss.

Danielle Garven had her fifth straight strong outing for the Panthers on Thursday night as she finished with a team-high 23 points, three rebounds and two steals while going 10-for-16 from the floor. The 20-point effort was a career-best third of the season for Garven. The senior has notched five straight games in double figures for the first time in her Pitt career while also leading the Panthers in scoring in all five games.

The Panthers were able to gain the early lead over the Orange as Garven finished off a fast break layup and Jasmine Whitney buried a jumper to give Pitt the 4-3 edge. The Orange were then able to score the next five to take the 8-4 lead into the first media timeout. A Garven layup with four minutes left was the final bucket of the quarter for the Panthers as Syracuse finished the first on a 13-0 run to take the 23-6 lead into the second quarter.

After the Orange opened the quarter on a 8-0 run to take the 31-6 lead, the Panthers were able to settle in offensively as Whitney knocked down back-to-back triples and Garven buried back-to-back jumpers to cut the Syracuse lead down to 34-18 with five minutes left in the first half. Syracuse was able to close out the quarter outscoring the Panthers 17-9 as Kauai Bradley finished the scoring for Pitt with a layup at the buzzer to send the teams to the locker room with the Orange leading 51-26.

The Panthers were able to put together a strong third quarter on Thursday as they outscored the Orange 25-20 in the quarter. After the Orange opened the third quarter strong offensively, the Panthers were able to respond with a 7-0 run behind a Kyla Nelson triple, a Whitney jumper and a Jaala Henry layup that cut the Syracuse lead to 61-39 midway through the quarter. Pitt then finished the quarter outscoring the Orange 12-10 as Cassidy Walsh and Ismini Prapa knocked down triples as the teams went to the fourth with Syracuse leading 71-51.

The two sides went back-and-forth to start the final frame as Nelson was able to bury her second triple of the game to cut the Orange lead to 81-58 at the final media timeout. The Orange were able to cruise over the final five minutes to earn the 90-63 home victory.

Whitney finished off her strong offensive game with 18 points, five steals and five assists across 35 minutes of work. The junior finished off her night going 6-for-13 from the floor while notching at least five steals for the third time this season. Off the bench, Nelson provided the Panthers with eight points, four rebounds and three assists while Bradley chipped in with four points, six boards, four assists and three steals in the loss.

As a team, the Panthers shot 37.7% from the floor while the Orange were able to shoot 47.8%. The Orange also outrebounded the Panthers 53-28 for the game and held the dominant 42-18 edge in paint scoring. Pitt was able to force 25 Syracuse turnovers but only turned those chances into 12 points in the loss.

UP NEXT:

The Panthers will have the weekend off before returning to the road next Thursday as they head to North Carolina to take on Wake Forest at 7:00 pm inside LJVM Coliseum.
Pitt will wrap up their regular season on Mar. 3 as they welcome nationally-ranked Louisville to the Petersen Events Center for a 2:00 pm tip. The game will be Senior Day for four Pitt seniors.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the loss, Pitt is now 19-43 all-time against the Orange and 7-23 in Syracuse.
The Panthers fall to 10-18 overall on the season and 1-13 in ACC play
Pitt was able to force 25 Syracuse turnovers in the loss, marking the seventh game this season they have forced 20+ turnovers.

Danielle Garven

Garven started her 24^th straight game for the Panthers in the loss
The senior finished off her game leading Pitt in scoring for the fifth straight game as she netted 23 points, three rebounds and two steals across 32 minutes
The 20+ point effort was her third of the season, a career-high for the senior
She has now scored in double figures a career-best 15 times on the season including in five straight and in seven of the last nine games.
Over her last nine games, Garven is averaging 15.8 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 55.8% from the floor
The senior has surpassed 30+ minutes in a career-high 15 games

Jasmine Whitney

The junior started her 25^th straight game for the Panthers at point guard
She finished off her game with 18 points, five assists, five steals and three rebounds across a team-high 35 minutes of work
The 18-point effort by Whitney are the most points she has scored since posting 20 points against Boston College (1/13/19)
The junior has led the Panthers in assists a career-high 21 times including in each of the past seven games
Whitney has 13 games with five or more assists this season
She has 16 multi-steal games this season including five or more thefts on three occasions
She played 35 minutes, marking the 13^th game this season she has played 30+ minutes