Panthers Fall Short At Florida State On Sunday Afternoon

Sunday, December 20

Tallahassee, FL

2:00 PM

Pitt

3-3,1-2ACC

Florida State University

3-1,2-1ACC

Pittsburgh

Florida St.

Panthers Fall Short At Florida State On Sunday Afternoon

12/20/2020 5:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats Season Stats (ACC Only)Highlights

PITTSBURGH – Despite winning the battle on the boards, the Pitt women's basketball team (3-3, 1-2 ACC) fell on the road to Florida State Sunday, 67-53. The Panthers were led offensively by Dayshanette Harris who netted 18 points, three rebounds and three assists in the loss.

"I felt we played like a young basketball team today on the road," stated head coach Lance White. "I think they forced the action a lot which caused us to turn the ball over too many times. The turnovers and not finishing a lot of things in the paint really hurt us today and I thought that was the tale of the game. Our defensive game plan was really good, it forced them to take hard shots and they made some."

The difference in the game on Sunday was the Panthers inability to hit open shots coupled with turning the ball over. Pitt had 23 turnovers while shooting a season-low 30.4% from the floor overall and 20.8% from behind the arc.

After Jayla Everett opened up the scoring with a jumper and Cynthia Ezeja netted a layup, the Seminoles went on a 10-0 run to take the 12-4 lead. The Panthers responded with five straight as Gabbie Green knocked down a triple and Harris finished off a steal and fast break layup to send the game to the first media timeout with Pitt trailing 14-9. Harris finished off a pretty layup but it was the final bucket for Pitt in the quarter as the Seminoles took the 19-11 lead into the second quarter.

The Seminoles got out to a quick start in the second as they scored the first seven points to extend their lead to 15, 26-11, and forced Pitt to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Ezaja grabbed an offensive board and finished off the layup and Harris knocked down a jumper as the Panthers showed some more energy. Florida State grew the lead to 34-16 in the final minute of the half by Emy Hayford made a nice move and finished off a layup and Rita Igbokwe made a put-back in the lane at the buzzer to send the game to the locker room with Pitt trailing 34-20.

The Panthers came out of the locker room with some serious energy as they scored the first 12 points of the quarter. Harris knocked down a pair of jumpers while Green and Everett knocked in three-pointers to cut the Seminoles lead to two, 34-32, just over two minutes into the quarter. FSU responded to the Pitt run with a 17-3 run to end the third quarter and take the 51-35 lead into the fourth.

Harris and Green opened the scoring in the fourth with layups for the Panthers before Amber Brown hit a free throw and Everett knocked down a triple to send the game to the final media timeout with FSU leading by 12, 55-43, with 4:52 to play. The cold shooting continued for Pitt down the stretch as they fell 67-53 in their final game before the Christmas break.

Green finished off her afternoon with 11 points while connecting on three triples while Ezeja posted her second straight game with double digit rebounds as she hauled in 11 boards, five offensive, in the loss. Brown had her second double digit rebound game of the season as she grabbed 10 while Liatu King came off the Pitt bench and netted five points and three rebounds.

Kourtney Weber led all scorers with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists while Bianca Jackson added 13 points and six boards in the win for the Seminoles.

As a team, the Seminoles shot 42.9% from the floor while Pitt was held to just 30.4% for the game. The Panthers won the rebounding battle 47-38 and grabbed a season-best 19 offensive rebounds. Pitt turned 19 offensive rebounds into just 12 points while they turned the ball over 23 times compared to 18 mishaps by the Seminoles.

UP NEXT

Pitt will return to the court Thursday, Dec. 31 as they welcome the Boston College Eagles to the Petersen Events Center. The game will tip at 2:00 pm and air live on ACC Network Extra.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the loss, Pitt drops to 0-8 all-time against the Seminoles including a 0-4 mark in Tallahassee.
Pitt shot 30.4% from the floor on Sunday, the first time this season they were unable to shoot at least 40% from the floor.
The Panthers grabbed 47 rebounds including a season-best 19 offensive boards as they have posted 40+ boards in five of six games this season.

Dayshanette Harris

Harris finished off her afternoon with a team-high 18 points, three rebounds and three assists while going 7-for-14 from the floor.
The sophomore has led Pitt in scoring in three straight games while shooting at least 50% from the floor in each of her last two games.
She has scored in double figures in all six games this season and in 14 straight games dating back to last season.
The sophomore finished with a team-high three assists in the loss and has now led the Panthers in assists 21 times over her career.
She now has 22 career games scoring in double figures while leading Pitt in scoring 16 times.

Gabbie Green

Green finished off her game with 11 points and two rebounds across 29 minutes of work.
She went 3-for-8 from behind the arc and has now connected on multiple triples in two games this season and in 21 games across her Pitt career.
She has now scored in double figures twice this season and in 16 games in her career.

Cynthia Ezeja

Ezeja finished off her strong game with four points, a team-high 11 rebounds and two blocks across 25 minutes of work.
Ezeja now has two straight games with 10+ rebounds. She grabbed five offensive rebounds in the loss.
The two blocks were a career-high for the redshirt freshman.
She made the first start of her Pitt career at center on Sunday.

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