Wednesday, March 4
Greensboro, NC
3:30 PM
Pitt
5-25,1-17ACC
67
vs
65
University of Notre Dame
13-18,8-10ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Pittsburgh
12
22
17
16
67
Notre Dame
16
17
14
18
65
Pitt Shocks Notre Dame In ACC Tournament Opening Round
3/4/2020 8:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Freshman point guard Dayshanette Harris knocked down the game-winning jump shot with 2.7 seconds left to secure a 67-65 victory over #10 Notre Dame in the opening round of the ACC Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum. With the win, #15 Pitt will move on to the Second Round of the tournament on Thursday as they will take on #7 Georgia Tech at 6:00 pm.
"This is the result of their hard work and growth, and so whenever they are finally able to see it and get to experience it, I'm pleased and excited for them to have that opportunity," stated second-year head coach Lance White. "It's a huge win for our program, getting to play in March and we get to survive and play another day. I'm excited about that."
After the Irish tied the game, 65-65, with just over 21 seconds to play, Harris took the ball and calmly delivered a dagger to send the Panthers to the second round of the tournament. Harris took on a double team by the Irish and drove into the lane and hit a floater with 2.7 seconds remaining to give the Panthers the 67-65 lead. On the ensuing inbound play, Harris sealed the game with a steal to give Pitt their second ACC Tournament win in program history.
Harris finished off her first career postseason game with her first career double-double, netting a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. The freshman finished off her night going 9-for-17 from the floor while adding in three assists and three steals across 33 minutes of work. Her final shot was also her first career game-winning shot.
The Panthers got off to a slow start offensively on Wednesday afternoon as the Fighting Irish raced out to the early 11-3 lead at the first media timeout as a Gabbie Green triple was the only bucket for Pitt who went 1-for-8 to start the game. The Panthers got it going out of the media timeout as Green knocked down her second triple of the game before Ismini Prapa entered the game and knocked down two straight three's to send the game to the second quarter with Notre Dame leading 16-12.
After the Irish opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run, the Panther found their groove offensively as Amber Brown scored six of the next eight points for Pitt. After a pair of Notre Dame free throws, Pitt went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 24-23, as Cara Judkins finished off a layup to force a Notre Dame timeout midway through the quarter. Out of the timeout Prapa hit another triple to give Pitt their biggest lead of the first half, 29-25, but the Irish responded to take the 33-32 lead in the final minute. After a stop on the defensive end of the court, Green knocked down a corner jumper to send the Panthers to the locker room with the 34-33 lead.
Prapa went off in the opening half as she netted a career-high 12 points on 4-for-4 from behind the arc while Green added eight first half points as Pitt shot 45.2% from the floor in the first half.
The Pitt offense continued their strong shooting to open the third as they connected on four of their first six shots of the quarter to push their lead out to 44-41 midway through the quarter. Emy Hayford and Green knocked down triples while Brown and Harris each buried jumpers just inside the arc. Harris hit a jumper in the Panthers final possession of the third and Judkins notched a block at the buzzer to send the game to the fourth with Pitt leading 51-47.
Early on in the fourth quarter, the Irish were able to regain the lead as Katlyn Gilbert knocked down a pair of free throws to force a Pitt timeout. Out of the timeout, the Panthers responded out of the timeout as Hayford finished off a layup and Harris made back-to-back jumpers to give Pitt the 57-55 lead with seven minutes to play. A huge block by Rita Igbokwe with just over five minutes left led to a Harris pull up jumper to push the Pitt lead to four, 61-57. The Panthers never gave up the lead the rest of the way as Harris knocked down the game-winner with 2.7 seconds remaining to send the Panthers into celebration on the court.
Green continued her strong play for the Panthers as she finished off the win with 14 points and two assists while going 4-for-5 from behind the arc. Brown was impressive in her first postseason game as she netted 12 points, three rebounds and two assists while going 6-for-10 from the floor. Prapa was the Panthers most important player as she came off the bench and netted a career-high 12 points and three assists on 4-for-4 shooting from behind the arc. Igbokwe also closed out her afternoon with nine rebounds and four blocks.
The Panthers had their best shooting effort in nearly three months on Wednesday afternoon as they hit 45.9% of their shot attempts including a season-best 56.3% from behind the arc. The Pitt bench outscored Notre Dame 14-3 in the game as they handed the Irish just their second loss in the ACC Tournament in program history.
NEXT UP
TEAM
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"This is the result of their hard work and growth, and so whenever they are finally able to see it and get to experience it, I'm pleased and excited for them to have that opportunity," stated second-year head coach Lance White. "It's a huge win for our program, getting to play in March and we get to survive and play another day. I'm excited about that."
After the Irish tied the game, 65-65, with just over 21 seconds to play, Harris took the ball and calmly delivered a dagger to send the Panthers to the second round of the tournament. Harris took on a double team by the Irish and drove into the lane and hit a floater with 2.7 seconds remaining to give the Panthers the 67-65 lead. On the ensuing inbound play, Harris sealed the game with a steal to give Pitt their second ACC Tournament win in program history.
ICE. IN. THE. VEINS. ??????#H2P // #GoBeyond // @_dharris1 pic.twitter.com/XRN2AQyrlT
— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_WBB) March 5, 2020
Harris finished off her first career postseason game with her first career double-double, netting a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. The freshman finished off her night going 9-for-17 from the floor while adding in three assists and three steals across 33 minutes of work. Her final shot was also her first career game-winning shot.
The Panthers got off to a slow start offensively on Wednesday afternoon as the Fighting Irish raced out to the early 11-3 lead at the first media timeout as a Gabbie Green triple was the only bucket for Pitt who went 1-for-8 to start the game. The Panthers got it going out of the media timeout as Green knocked down her second triple of the game before Ismini Prapa entered the game and knocked down two straight three's to send the game to the second quarter with Notre Dame leading 16-12.
After the Irish opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run, the Panther found their groove offensively as Amber Brown scored six of the next eight points for Pitt. After a pair of Notre Dame free throws, Pitt went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 24-23, as Cara Judkins finished off a layup to force a Notre Dame timeout midway through the quarter. Out of the timeout Prapa hit another triple to give Pitt their biggest lead of the first half, 29-25, but the Irish responded to take the 33-32 lead in the final minute. After a stop on the defensive end of the court, Green knocked down a corner jumper to send the Panthers to the locker room with the 34-33 lead.
Prapa went off in the opening half as she netted a career-high 12 points on 4-for-4 from behind the arc while Green added eight first half points as Pitt shot 45.2% from the floor in the first half.
The Pitt offense continued their strong shooting to open the third as they connected on four of their first six shots of the quarter to push their lead out to 44-41 midway through the quarter. Emy Hayford and Green knocked down triples while Brown and Harris each buried jumpers just inside the arc. Harris hit a jumper in the Panthers final possession of the third and Judkins notched a block at the buzzer to send the game to the fourth with Pitt leading 51-47.
Early on in the fourth quarter, the Irish were able to regain the lead as Katlyn Gilbert knocked down a pair of free throws to force a Pitt timeout. Out of the timeout, the Panthers responded out of the timeout as Hayford finished off a layup and Harris made back-to-back jumpers to give Pitt the 57-55 lead with seven minutes to play. A huge block by Rita Igbokwe with just over five minutes left led to a Harris pull up jumper to push the Pitt lead to four, 61-57. The Panthers never gave up the lead the rest of the way as Harris knocked down the game-winner with 2.7 seconds remaining to send the Panthers into celebration on the court.
Green continued her strong play for the Panthers as she finished off the win with 14 points and two assists while going 4-for-5 from behind the arc. Brown was impressive in her first postseason game as she netted 12 points, three rebounds and two assists while going 6-for-10 from the floor. Prapa was the Panthers most important player as she came off the bench and netted a career-high 12 points and three assists on 4-for-4 shooting from behind the arc. Igbokwe also closed out her afternoon with nine rebounds and four blocks.
The Panthers had their best shooting effort in nearly three months on Wednesday afternoon as they hit 45.9% of their shot attempts including a season-best 56.3% from behind the arc. The Pitt bench outscored Notre Dame 14-3 in the game as they handed the Irish just their second loss in the ACC Tournament in program history.
NEXT UP
- #15 Pitt will move on to the Second Round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday evening as they will take on #7 Georgia Tech inside the Greensboro Coliseum.
TEAM
- The win marked the second win in the ACC Tournament in program history as they won their first in 2016.
- With the win, Pitt snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Irish and earned their first win over Notre Dame since 2009.
- Pitt hands Notre Dame just their second loss in the ACC Tournament in program history as they are now 17-2 in postseason games.
- Finished off her evening with her second straight 20-point effort as she netted a team-high 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals across 33 minutes.
- Harris now has back-to-back 20-point efforts for the first time in her career. For the season, she has a total of five 20+ point games, the most by a Pitt freshman since 2011-12 when Brianna Kiesel had seven.
- The 20-point 10-rebound double-double for Harris marked the first of her career and second by a Pitt freshman this season (Amber Brown, 5). The 10 rebounds are a career-high for the freshman.
- Harris has now scored in double figures 15 times this season including in seven straight. Over her last 12 games she is averaging a team-high 16.8 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Panthers.
- She has played 20+ minutes in 25 games while notching 30+ minutes 13 times this season.
- Finished off her night with 14 points and two assists while playing a team-high 36 minutes of tough defense for the Panthers.
- She went 4-for-5 from behind the arc in the win as she now has 18 games this season with at least two triples.
- With the four triples, Green is tied for seventh in program history for three-pointers in a season (58).
- Green is now one triple away from tying the program record for three-pointers made in a season by a junior (59).
- Green played a game-high 36 minutes as she has now played 20+ in all 30 games this season and 30+ minutes 17 times.
- Finished off her first career postseason game with nine rebounds and a team-high four blocks.
- The third leading offensive rebounder in the ACC added to her total on Wednesday as she grabbed six offensive rebounds in the win.
- With her four blocks, Igbokwe broke a 43-year old school record for blocks by a freshman as she has 57 blocks so far this season.
- She has notched at least one block in 22 of the Panthers 30 games this season and has six games with at least four rejections.
- She finished the game playing 23 minutes, she now has 17 games with 20+ minutes. She has 20+ minutes played in six straight games for the Panthers.
- Posted the best game of her collegiate career on Wednesday as she netted a career-high 12 points and a career-high three assists across 22 minutes of work.
- The sharpshooter came off the bench in the opening half and connected on 4-for-4 from behind the arc to help Pitt secure the tournament victory.
- She had a team-best plus/minus rating of +12 in the game.
- She has now played double figure minutes in eight straight games and 20+ minutes in back-to-back games for the first time in her career.
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Team Stats
Pitt
ND
FG%
.459
.375
3FG%
.563
.250
FT%
.500
.867
RB
40
34
TO
22
15
STL
3
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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Guard
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Forward
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Center
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