Panthers Fall In Overtime At Wake Forest

Thursday, February 11

Winston-Salem, NC

6:00 PM

Pitt

4-8,2-7ACC

Wake Forest University

10-8,7-7ACC

OT 1

Pittsburgh

Wake Forest

Panthers Fall In Overtime At Wake Forest

2/11/2021 10:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats Highlights

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The Pitt women's basketball team (4-8, 2-7 ACC) dropped a heartbreaker in overtime on Thursday night at Wake Forest, 64-61. The Panthers held a 10-point lead midway through the final quarter but the Demon Deacons fought back and won the game in overtime.

Wake Forest hit a deep contested three with 32.7 seconds left to tie the game up, 57-57. On the ensuing possession for Pitt, Jayla Everett appeared to be bumped and her shot was off and grabbed by the Deacons with 19.3 seconds remaining. The Panthers played great defense and forced a miss on the next possession to force overtime for the first time this season.

In the overtime period, Wake Forest scored the first five points before Everett hit a triple and sank a free throw to make it a one-point game, 62-61, with two minutes remaining. After a pair of missed layups by the Panthers, Wake Forest hit two free throw to take the 64-61 lead but Destiny Strother's game-tying three just missed and the Demon Deacons hung on for the win.

Sophomore Rita Igbokwe opened up the scoring in the game as she made a nice jumper in the lane but the Demon Deacons responded with the next four points. After Amber Brown finished off a fast break layup and Emy Hayford had a layup, Wake forest entered the first media timeout with the 9-6 lead. Brown gave Pitt the 10-9 lead with four straight points but the Deacons ended the first quarter with six straight points to take the 15-10 lead into the second.

Pitt had a great start to the second quarter as they netted the first seven points. Cynthia Ezeja finished off a layup, Dayshanette Harris had a steal and layup and Strother netted her first triple of the game as Pitt earned the 17-15 lead. Harris drew two charges and recorded a steal in the first three possessions by Wake Forest in the quarter to give Pitt the momentum. The Demon Deacons went on an 8-0 run down the stretch of the second quarter but Strother ended the half with another triple to send Pitt to the locker room trailing by three, 23-20.

Everett opened up the third quarter with a triple to tie things up before the Deacons scored four straight to take the 27-23 lead early in the quarter. Everett responded with another jumper andh Gabbie Green nailed her first triple of the game to give Pitt the 28-27 lead just over two minutes in. Wake regained the 31-28 lead but Ezeja finished off a layup to bring Pitt within one at the media timeout, 31-30. After Wake tied the game, 34-34, with a layup and free throw, Harris finished off the and one and then drilled a jumper to send Pitt to the fourth quarter with the 41-36 lead.

Pitt pushed their lead out to nine, 49-40, early in the fourth quarter as Everett and Green knocked down back-to-back triples. Brown pushed the Pitt lead out to 10, 55-45, with just over five minutes to play but the Demon Deacons began the comeback. They outscored Pitt 12-2 across the final five minutes of regulation to force the overtime period where they went to hang onto the 64-61 home victory.

Pitt was led offensively by Everett who netted 12 points, three assists and two steals across 35 minutes of work while Brown added 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Igbokwe finished off her strong night with seven points, a team-high 12 rebounds and two blocks while Harris added seven points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals in the loss.

Wake Forest was led offensively on Thursday by Gina Conti who netted 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals while Ivana Raca finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the win.

As a team, Pitt shot just 31% from the floor while the held the Demon Deacons to 32.8% shooting. Wake Forest won the rebounding battle 48-43 and the battle inside the paint 28-22.

UP NEXT

Pitt returns home on Sunday afternoon for a rescheduled contest with the North Carolina Tar Heels at 2:00 pm.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the loss, Wake Forest improves to 7-4 all-time against Pitt and 2-2 all-time in games played in Winston-Salem.
Pitt grabbed 43 rebounds in the loss, their eighth game this season with at least 40 rebounds.
Pitt held Wake Forest to 20 first half points, their second best defensive half of the season as they held George Mason to 19 first half points in the season opener.

Amber Brown

Brown finished off her night with 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists across 38 minutes of work.
The sophomore finished the game 3-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
She has now scored in double figures in three straight games and in four games this season. She has 21 career games with 10+ points.
Her 38 minutes played are a career-high as she has played 30+ minutes in 27 games in her career.
Brown has grabbed at least five rebounds in 10 games this season and in 37 games across her career.

Rita Igbokwe

Igbokwe had another strong game for Pitt on Thursday as she netted seven points, a season-high 12 rebounds and two blocks across 21 minutes of work.
She has now posted 10+ rebounds twice this season and in eight games in her career.
She has grabbed at least five rebounds in seven straight games for Pitt. She has also led the Panthers in rebounding five times this season and in 16 games in her career.
The two-block game was her fourth multi-block game of the season and 21st of her career.

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