Sunday, February 3
Durham, N.C.
2 PM
Pitt
55
at
74
Duke
Walsh's Three-Point Prowess Not Enough; Pitt Falls At Duke
2/3/2019 6:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
DURHAM, NC – Despite a career-high six three-pointers from senior Cassidy Walsh, the Pitt women's basketball team (9-14, 0-9 ACC) fell on the road on Sunday to the Duke Blue Devils, 74-55.
"We are a different team when Cassidy Walsh knocks down shots," stated head coach Lance White. "She had a couple open looks early on and she knocked them down to give the team some confidence and allow our other players to do what they do best but we just couldn't maintain that down the stretch today."
Walsh had a career afternoon for the Panthers on Sunday as she tried to single-handily shoot Pitt to victory as she was able to connect on a career-high six triples while posting 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals across 30 minutes of work. The 18-point effort for Walsh marked her 12th game this season scoring in double figures as she has now connected on a career-high 44 three-pointers on the year.
After the two teams traded buckets and the Blue Devils got out to the 5-4 lead early in the first quarter, Walsh took over the scoring load for the Panthers as she was able to net a trio of three-pointers to give Pitt the 17-14 lead. After a Duke triple tied the game, Jaala Henry was able to close out the scoring in the first quarter with a spin and layup to give the Panthers the 19-17 lead through 10 minutes of action.
The Panthers were able to open the second quarter with a triple from Walsh and a layup from Henry to give Pitt their biggest lead of the first half, 24-17. The Blue Devils were able to respond over the next three minutes as they went on a 13-4 run to take the 30-28 advantage into the media timeout in the second quarter. Kauai Bradley finished off a fast break layup out of the media timeout but Duke closed the half on a 9-2 run behind three triples to take the 41-32 lead into the locker room.
Pitt opened the third quarter with a pair of three-pointers as Walsh connected on her fifth of the game and Kyla Nelson buried a triple to cut the Blue Devils lead down to 43-38 with 6:31 left in the quarter. After a Panthers timeout, the Blue Devils were able to go on a 9-0 run before Jasmine Whitney closed out the quarter with a coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer of the quarter to send the game to the fourth with Duke clinging to the 52-42 lead.
The Blue Devils opened up a 12-point lead early in the fourth but Walsh connected on her sixth triple of the game and Jasmine Whitney nailed a pull-up jumper to force Duke to take a timeout as Pitt drew within seven, 56-49, with 4:48 left to play. Duke came out of the timeout with some energy and went on a quick 4-0 run to push their lead to 60-49 and the Panthers couldn't overcome the deficit down the stretch, falling 74-55.
Whitney finished off her afternoon with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals across 36 minutes while Cara Judkins netted nine points, four rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes of action. Danielle Garven had eight points and three boards while Nelson came off the bench and scored five points and five rebounds.
As a team, Duke shot 42.6% from the floor while the Panthers were limited to just 33.3% shooting. The Blue Devils held the slim 42-41 edge in rebounds while both teams turned the ball over 21 times in the game.
Duke was led by Haley Gorecki who finished the game with a triple-double as she netted 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the win.
UP NEXT:
Team
"We are a different team when Cassidy Walsh knocks down shots," stated head coach Lance White. "She had a couple open looks early on and she knocked them down to give the team some confidence and allow our other players to do what they do best but we just couldn't maintain that down the stretch today."
Walsh had a career afternoon for the Panthers on Sunday as she tried to single-handily shoot Pitt to victory as she was able to connect on a career-high six triples while posting 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals across 30 minutes of work. The 18-point effort for Walsh marked her 12th game this season scoring in double figures as she has now connected on a career-high 44 three-pointers on the year.
After the two teams traded buckets and the Blue Devils got out to the 5-4 lead early in the first quarter, Walsh took over the scoring load for the Panthers as she was able to net a trio of three-pointers to give Pitt the 17-14 lead. After a Duke triple tied the game, Jaala Henry was able to close out the scoring in the first quarter with a spin and layup to give the Panthers the 19-17 lead through 10 minutes of action.
The Panthers were able to open the second quarter with a triple from Walsh and a layup from Henry to give Pitt their biggest lead of the first half, 24-17. The Blue Devils were able to respond over the next three minutes as they went on a 13-4 run to take the 30-28 advantage into the media timeout in the second quarter. Kauai Bradley finished off a fast break layup out of the media timeout but Duke closed the half on a 9-2 run behind three triples to take the 41-32 lead into the locker room.
Pitt opened the third quarter with a pair of three-pointers as Walsh connected on her fifth of the game and Kyla Nelson buried a triple to cut the Blue Devils lead down to 43-38 with 6:31 left in the quarter. After a Panthers timeout, the Blue Devils were able to go on a 9-0 run before Jasmine Whitney closed out the quarter with a coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer of the quarter to send the game to the fourth with Duke clinging to the 52-42 lead.
The Blue Devils opened up a 12-point lead early in the fourth but Walsh connected on her sixth triple of the game and Jasmine Whitney nailed a pull-up jumper to force Duke to take a timeout as Pitt drew within seven, 56-49, with 4:48 left to play. Duke came out of the timeout with some energy and went on a quick 4-0 run to push their lead to 60-49 and the Panthers couldn't overcome the deficit down the stretch, falling 74-55.
Whitney finished off her afternoon with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals across 36 minutes while Cara Judkins netted nine points, four rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes of action. Danielle Garven had eight points and three boards while Nelson came off the bench and scored five points and five rebounds.
As a team, Duke shot 42.6% from the floor while the Panthers were limited to just 33.3% shooting. The Blue Devils held the slim 42-41 edge in rebounds while both teams turned the ball over 21 times in the game.
Duke was led by Haley Gorecki who finished the game with a triple-double as she netted 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the win.
UP NEXT:
- The Panthers will stay on the road on Thursday night as they travel to Atlanta, GA to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at 7:00 pm.
- Pitt will then return to the Petersen Events Center on Sunday, Feb. 10 as they welcome Miami for their 12th annual "Pink the Pete" game. Tip is set for 2:00 pm.
Team
- With the loss, Pitt falls to 0-10 against the Duke Blue Devils in the all-time series
- The Panthers defense forced 21 Duke turnovers, marking the sixth time this season Pitt has forced 20+ turnovers and the second straight game
- The Panthers allowed 10 three-pointers made for the second straight game in the loss
- Pitt notched 12 steals in the game as they have now recorded 10+ steals in eight games including two straight
- Walsh is the lone Panther to start all 23 games this season
- Finished off her game with a team-high 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals
- Connected on a career-high six three-pointers in the loss
- She has now scored in double figures a career-high 12 times on the year
- The senior has connected on at least two triples in 15 games so far this season
- Played 30 minutes for the 15th time this season, a career-high
- Whitney earned her 20th straight start at point guard for the Panthers on Sunday
- She finished off her afternoon with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals
- The eight assists are a season-best as she now has 15 games of 4+ assists on the year
- She notched her 12th multi-steal game of the season and fifth with at least three thefts
- She played a team-high 36 minutes as she has now gone over the 30-minute plateau nine times on the year
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Center
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
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