Saturday, December 4
Muncie, IN
1:00 PM
Pitt
7-2,0-0ACC
64
at
54
Ball State
4-3,0-0MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Pittsburgh
20
16
20
8
64
Ball St.
15
19
12
8
54
Defense Leads Panthers To 64-54 Road Win Over Ball State Saturday
12/4/2021 4:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MUNCIE, IN – The Pitt women's basketball team (7-2, 0-0 ACC) improved to 2-0 on the road this season as they handed the Ball State Cardinals the 64-54 defeat on Saturday afternoon inside Worthen Arena. The Panthers were led offensively by Amber Brown who netted a career-high 17 points and 14 rebounds in the win.
Brown was all over the court for Pitt as she tied a career-high with 17 points on 6-of-9 from the floor while adding a career-high 14 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Taisha Exanor came off the Pitt bench and provided the Panthers with a career-high 11 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Pitt got off to a great start on Saturday as Jayla Everett opened the game with a jumper and Emy Hayford netted five straight after drilling a three to give the Panthers the early 7-0 lead. After the Cardinals cut the Pitt lead to just three, Rita Igbokwe finished off an offensive rebound and layup and Exanor finished through traffic after a great possession that saw Pitt snag three offensive boards in a row, making the score 12-5 in favor of the Panthers at the first media timeout. A deep Everett jumper gave Pitt the 20-12 edge but the Cardinals were able to close out the scoring with a triple to make the score 20-15 through 10 minutes.
The Cardinals cut the Pitt lead to four, 24-20, early in the quarter but the Panthers responded with a 6-1 run as Liatu King finished off a layup and Brown netted two straight buckets to make the score 30-21 at the media timeout. The Cardinals began to eat away at the Pitt lead down the stretch of the second quarter as they were able to get to the free throw line and convert. After a pair of Brown free throws made the score 36-29 in favor of Pitt, Ball State ended the half on a 5-0 run to send the game to half with Pitt leading 36-34.
Ball State tied the game early in the third but the Panthers responded quickly with a Brown layup and a layup by Tracey Hueston off the bench to give Pitt the 42-38 edge two minutes into the second half. The Cardinals made it a one-point game with three minutes to play in the quarter but the Panthers were able to respond with the final nine points of the quarter as Hueston finished off a layup and Exanor knocked down her second triple of the quarter to make the score 56-46 in favor of Pitt.
The Cardinals opened the final frame with back-to-back layups to cut the Pitt lead to seven, 57-50, but the Panthers came right back as Exanor connected on her third triple of the half to send the game to the final media timeout with Pitt maintaining the 62-52 lead. The Panthers defense locked down over the final five minutes to preserve the road victory as they held the Cardinals to 1-of-18 on their final 18 three-point attempts.
Everett netted eight points and a season-high seven rebounds while Dayshanette Harris finished off her game with eight points, two assists and a steal in 14 minutes of work. King added nine rebounds and five points while Hayford added five points, three assists and three rebounds in the win.
As a team, Pitt held the 51-30 edge in rebounds while dominating the paint 34-26. Pitt finished off the win shooting 42.6% from the floor and 70% from the charity stripe while Ball State shot 30% from the floor and 56.5% from the free throw line.
Ball State was led offensively by Anna Clephane who netted 17 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists while Sydney Freeman added 10 points, five assists and three assists in the loss.
NEXT UP
Team
Brown was all over the court for Pitt as she tied a career-high with 17 points on 6-of-9 from the floor while adding a career-high 14 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Taisha Exanor came off the Pitt bench and provided the Panthers with a career-high 11 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Pitt got off to a great start on Saturday as Jayla Everett opened the game with a jumper and Emy Hayford netted five straight after drilling a three to give the Panthers the early 7-0 lead. After the Cardinals cut the Pitt lead to just three, Rita Igbokwe finished off an offensive rebound and layup and Exanor finished through traffic after a great possession that saw Pitt snag three offensive boards in a row, making the score 12-5 in favor of the Panthers at the first media timeout. A deep Everett jumper gave Pitt the 20-12 edge but the Cardinals were able to close out the scoring with a triple to make the score 20-15 through 10 minutes.
The Cardinals cut the Pitt lead to four, 24-20, early in the quarter but the Panthers responded with a 6-1 run as Liatu King finished off a layup and Brown netted two straight buckets to make the score 30-21 at the media timeout. The Cardinals began to eat away at the Pitt lead down the stretch of the second quarter as they were able to get to the free throw line and convert. After a pair of Brown free throws made the score 36-29 in favor of Pitt, Ball State ended the half on a 5-0 run to send the game to half with Pitt leading 36-34.
Ball State tied the game early in the third but the Panthers responded quickly with a Brown layup and a layup by Tracey Hueston off the bench to give Pitt the 42-38 edge two minutes into the second half. The Cardinals made it a one-point game with three minutes to play in the quarter but the Panthers were able to respond with the final nine points of the quarter as Hueston finished off a layup and Exanor knocked down her second triple of the quarter to make the score 56-46 in favor of Pitt.
The Cardinals opened the final frame with back-to-back layups to cut the Pitt lead to seven, 57-50, but the Panthers came right back as Exanor connected on her third triple of the half to send the game to the final media timeout with Pitt maintaining the 62-52 lead. The Panthers defense locked down over the final five minutes to preserve the road victory as they held the Cardinals to 1-of-18 on their final 18 three-point attempts.
Everett netted eight points and a season-high seven rebounds while Dayshanette Harris finished off her game with eight points, two assists and a steal in 14 minutes of work. King added nine rebounds and five points while Hayford added five points, three assists and three rebounds in the win.
As a team, Pitt held the 51-30 edge in rebounds while dominating the paint 34-26. Pitt finished off the win shooting 42.6% from the floor and 70% from the charity stripe while Ball State shot 30% from the floor and 56.5% from the free throw line.
Ball State was led offensively by Anna Clephane who netted 17 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists while Sydney Freeman added 10 points, five assists and three assists in the loss.
NEXT UP
- Pitt will return home for their next game as they welcome Coppin State to the Petersen Events Center Tuesday, Dec. 7. Tuesday's game will tip at 6:00 pm and air on ACC Network Extra.
Team
- With the win, Pitt improves to 4-0 all-time against the Cardinals including a 2-0 mark in Muncie.
- Pitt also improves to 31-12 all-time against MAC foes.
- The Panthers are now 2-0 on the road. It marks the first time Pitt has started a road season 2-0 since 2008-09.
- Pitt is now 7-2 overall which marks their best start to a season since starting 7-2 in 2016-17.
- Pitt grabbed 51 rebounds in the win, their fourth game this season with 50+ rebounds.
- Brown finished off the best game of her career tying a career-high with 17 points and career-high 14 rebounds to go along with two assists and two steals in 32 minutes of work.
- She finished off her game going 6-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
- The double-double marked the sixth of her career and first since freshman year when she had five.
- Brown now has two double digit rebounds game this season and 13 in her career.
- She has scored in double figures in two straight games and in three overall this season and in 26 across her career.
- Exanor finished off her big afternoon with a new career-high 11 points, five rebounds and two steals across a season-high 26 minutes of work.
- She finished the game going 4-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-5 from behind the arc. The four field goals and three triples are both career-highs.
- She has grabbed at least five rebounds in four games this season.
- The 26 minutes played were a season-high and it marked her fourth career game with 20+ minutes played.
Team Stats
Pitt
BSU
FG%
.426
.300
3FG%
.444
.167
FT%
.700
.565
RB
51
30
TO
22
9
STL
6
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballHighlights | Pitt 79, Wake Forest 63
Sunday, March 02
Pitt Women's Basketball Highlights | Pitt 79, Boston College 66
Saturday, March 01
Pitt Women's Basketball Highlights | Pitt 72, Clemson 59
Saturday, March 01
Highlights | Pitt 72, Clemson 59
Sunday, February 23