Thursday, January 2
Pittsburgh, Pa.
7:00 PM
Pitt
3-10,0-2ACC
52
vs
60
University of Notre Dame
6-8,1-1ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Notre Dame
8
22
16
14
60
Pittsburgh
8
14
14
16
52
Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics
Panthers Comeback Bid Comes Up Just Short; Notre Dame Sneaks Past Pitt, 60-52
1/2/2020 10:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – The Panthers saw their ferocious come-from-behind attempt come up just short on Thursday night in their second ACC contest of the season as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish squeaked by the Panthers at the Petersen Events Center, 60-52. The Panthers grabbed a season-high 53 rebounds in the losing effort, the most in a game by Pitt since Jan. 10, 2016 when they notched 61 boards against NC State.
"You can't have 17 turnovers in the first half and expect to win ACC games," said head coach Lance White. "In the first half, to have two offensive rebounds and finished with 21 [rebounds] and just four turnovers, things like that are growth and with Dayshanette Harris and Amber Brown and a team that is trying to find out how to play at this level, I think that they are doing a lot of things really well."
The difference in the game for Notre Dame was forcing Pitt turnovers and cashing in on those opportunities as they forced 21 mishaps by the Panthers and they scored 18 points off of those chances. Pitt was only able to net nine points off of 16 Notre Dame turnovers in the eight-point loss. The Irish also dominated the paint, outscoring the Panthers 40-22 down low.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter as they the Fighting Irish used a layup at the buzzer to send it to the second all square, 8-8, despite a pair of triples from Gabbie Green to open things up.
The second quarter proved to be the turning point for the Irish as they were able to outscore Pitt 22-14 in the second frame. The two teams began the quarter by exchanging some buckets before Emy Hayford was able to net a pair of free throws to tie things up, 16-16, midway through the quarter. After a quick run by the Irish, Hayford again responded with a layup in the paint after a great feed from Brown to cut the Irish lead to two, 24-22. Unfortunately for the Panthers they wouldn't score again in the quarter as the Irish closed the half on a 6-0 run to take the 30-22 lead into the locker room. For the quarter, Pitt had eight turnovers which turned into 11 Notre Dame points.
After a disastrous start to the third quarter saw the Irish race out to a 17-point lead, 41-24, Pitt began to claw their way back into the contest on the heels of some strong rebounding and defense. The Panthers responded with an 8-0 spurt as Green knocked down her third triple of the game and Rita Igbokwe grabbed an offensive rebound and finished off the layup to cut the Irish lead to nine, 41-32, with two minutes to play in the third. The Irish scored the next five but Harris and Brown netted back-to-back layups to close out the quarter with Pitt trailing by 10, 46-36.
Pitt continued to creep back into the game early in the fourth quarter as Igbokwe finished off a pair of layups inside the paint and Aysia Bugg knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the Notre Dame lead to four, 48-44, with eight minutes to play. Brown then connected on two free throws to get Pitt within three, 51-48, midway through the final quarter but the home team wasn't able to get any closer down the stretch. Pitt went just 1-for-18 from the floor down the stretch as the Irish were able to escape with the 60-52 win.
Brown continued her great play for the Panthers on Thursday night as she netted her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. The three assists tied a career-high and her 11 rebounds give her seven games with 10+ boards this season. Green led the Panthers in scoring for the third time this season as she netted 13 points and three rebounds while knocking down a trio of three-pointers across 36 minutes of work.
Harris had a solid game off the bench as she netted nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals while Hayford finished off her night with eight points and six rebounds across 18 minutes of work. Igbokwe was a monster down low as she netted six points, eight rebounds and four rejections in the loss.
As a team, Pitt shot just 25.4% from the floor while holding the Irish to just 33.3% shooting in the loss. The Panthers won the rebounding battle 53-46 while snagging 21 offensive rebounds, 19 in the second half, and turned those chances into 15 second chance points.
NEXT UP
TEAM
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"You can't have 17 turnovers in the first half and expect to win ACC games," said head coach Lance White. "In the first half, to have two offensive rebounds and finished with 21 [rebounds] and just four turnovers, things like that are growth and with Dayshanette Harris and Amber Brown and a team that is trying to find out how to play at this level, I think that they are doing a lot of things really well."
The difference in the game for Notre Dame was forcing Pitt turnovers and cashing in on those opportunities as they forced 21 mishaps by the Panthers and they scored 18 points off of those chances. Pitt was only able to net nine points off of 16 Notre Dame turnovers in the eight-point loss. The Irish also dominated the paint, outscoring the Panthers 40-22 down low.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter as they the Fighting Irish used a layup at the buzzer to send it to the second all square, 8-8, despite a pair of triples from Gabbie Green to open things up.
The second quarter proved to be the turning point for the Irish as they were able to outscore Pitt 22-14 in the second frame. The two teams began the quarter by exchanging some buckets before Emy Hayford was able to net a pair of free throws to tie things up, 16-16, midway through the quarter. After a quick run by the Irish, Hayford again responded with a layup in the paint after a great feed from Brown to cut the Irish lead to two, 24-22. Unfortunately for the Panthers they wouldn't score again in the quarter as the Irish closed the half on a 6-0 run to take the 30-22 lead into the locker room. For the quarter, Pitt had eight turnovers which turned into 11 Notre Dame points.
After a disastrous start to the third quarter saw the Irish race out to a 17-point lead, 41-24, Pitt began to claw their way back into the contest on the heels of some strong rebounding and defense. The Panthers responded with an 8-0 spurt as Green knocked down her third triple of the game and Rita Igbokwe grabbed an offensive rebound and finished off the layup to cut the Irish lead to nine, 41-32, with two minutes to play in the third. The Irish scored the next five but Harris and Brown netted back-to-back layups to close out the quarter with Pitt trailing by 10, 46-36.
Pitt continued to creep back into the game early in the fourth quarter as Igbokwe finished off a pair of layups inside the paint and Aysia Bugg knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the Notre Dame lead to four, 48-44, with eight minutes to play. Brown then connected on two free throws to get Pitt within three, 51-48, midway through the final quarter but the home team wasn't able to get any closer down the stretch. Pitt went just 1-for-18 from the floor down the stretch as the Irish were able to escape with the 60-52 win.
Brown continued her great play for the Panthers on Thursday night as she netted her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. The three assists tied a career-high and her 11 rebounds give her seven games with 10+ boards this season. Green led the Panthers in scoring for the third time this season as she netted 13 points and three rebounds while knocking down a trio of three-pointers across 36 minutes of work.
Harris had a solid game off the bench as she netted nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals while Hayford finished off her night with eight points and six rebounds across 18 minutes of work. Igbokwe was a monster down low as she netted six points, eight rebounds and four rejections in the loss.
As a team, Pitt shot just 25.4% from the floor while holding the Irish to just 33.3% shooting in the loss. The Panthers won the rebounding battle 53-46 while snagging 21 offensive rebounds, 19 in the second half, and turned those chances into 15 second chance points.
NEXT UP
- Pitt will return to the Pete on Sunday afternoon as they welcome the Boston College Eagles for a 2:00 pm tip.
- The Panthers will then return to the road on Thursday, Jan. 16 as they head to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech at 7:00 pm.
TEAM
- With the loss, Pitt is now 3-28 all-time against the Fighting Irish and have lost 11 straight in the series.
- The Panthers are now 0-7 all-time in ACC home openers.
- Pitt grabbed a season-high 53 rebounds, 21 offensive, in the game. The 53 rebounds were the most in a game by the Panthers since Jan. 10, 2016 when they grabbed 61 boards against NC State.
- Finished off her night with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists across 34 minutes of work.
- The 12 point and 11 rebound effort marked her fifth double-double of the season, the most by a freshman in the ACC this season.
- She now has seven games with 10+ rebounds including in two straight ACC games.
- She has now recorded four or more rebounds in all 13 of her career games.
- Played 30+ minutes for the 10th time this season including in five straight contests.
- The freshman has 10 double figure scoring games this season and has scored 5+ points in each of her last 12 games.
- Came off the bench finished with six points, eight rebounds and four blocks across 17 minutes of work on Thursday.
- Went 3-for-5 from the floor while grabbing three offensive rebounds.
- She now has a team-high seven multi-block efforts including three games with at least four swats for the Panthers.
- She leads the team and ranks second in the ACC with 28 blocks so far this season.
- She now has five games with at least eight boards on the season.
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Team Stats
ND
Pitt
FG%
.333
.254
3FG%
.125
.176
FT%
.722
.680
RB
46
53
TO
16
21
STL
11
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
8
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
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