Green's Big Night Not Enough As Pitt Falls To #3 Louisville

Thursday, February 18

Pittsburgh, Pa.

8:00 PM

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5-10,3-9ACC

University of Louisville

20-1,13-1ACC

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Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics

Green's Big Night Not Enough As Pitt Falls To #3 Louisville

2/18/2021 11:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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PITTSBURGH – Senior captain Gabbie Green exploded for a season-high 20 points but it wasn't enough as the Pitt women's basketball team (5-10, 3-9 ACC) fell at home on Thursday night to the #3 Louisville Cardinals, 82-58.

"Obviously, whenever you play great teams, everything has to go perfect in order to have a chance to beat them," said third-year head coach Lance White. "I thought last year against Louisville, we didn't even have the looks or have the chances but this time I thought we had good enough chances, we just can't produce yet. I did think Gabbie Green played really well for us today and really battled on both ends of the floor to give us some looks."

The Cardinals opened the game with a pair of layups before Dayshanette Harris got Pitt on the board with a nice drive and layup. Cynthia Ezeja was able to grab an offensive rebound and finished off a layup through contact to get the Panthers within 10-4 at the first media timeout. Gabbie Green netted the final five points of the first for the Panthers as they went to the second trailing 17-9.

The Panthers started to battle back in the second quarter thanks to Green who knocked down three triples in the quarter. After Jayla Everett netted a jumper and Ezeja grabbed an offensive rebound and finished off a layup, Green's fourth triple of the first half tied the game, 27-27, with just over two minutes to go in the first half. The Cardinals finished the half on a 6-0 run to take the 33-27 lead into the locker room.

Green opened the scoring in the third with her fifth triple of the game but the Cardinals responded with a 9-2 run to take the 44-32 lead. Louisville pushed their lead out to 14 but Destiny Strother knocked down a triple and Everett had a block and layup to make it 49-37 in favor of Louisville at the third quarter media timeout. After the media, the Cardinals took over the game as they pushed their lead to 21, 61-40, at the end of the third.

Pitt was able to get the deficit down to 14, 65-51, midway through the final quarter as Everett took over offensively for the Panthers and drained back-to-back triples. The Cardinals however, didn't allow things to get any closer as they went on an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach. Pitt finished the game with three points from Tracey Hueston and a layup from Liatu King as they fell 82-58.

Green had the best game of her season on Thursday night as she netted 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting including 5-for-8 from behind the arc in 31 minutes. The 20 points and five three-pointers were a season-high for the senior sharpshooter. Everett added 14 points and five assists while King came off the bench and provided Pitt with six points and six boards in the loss.

Louisville was led offensively by senior Dana Evans who netted a game-high 29 points while Hailey Van Lith added 13 points, six assists and four steals in the win.

As a team, the Panthers shot just 31.8% from the floor while the Cardinals were able to shoot 50.8% for the game. The Cardinals also won the battle on the glass 44-40 and the battle of paint scoring, 46-22.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the loss, Pitt drops to 2-21 all-time and 2-9 in games in Pittsburgh against the Louisville Cardinals. It also marked the 17st straight win for Louisville over Pitt. 20-2 Louisville.
The Panthers grabbed 40 rebounds in the loss, their 12^th game this season with at least 40 rebounds.
Pitt had 21 offensive rebounds in the loss, their third game this season with 20+ offensive boards. Pitt had three games with 20+ offensive rebounds all last season.

Gabbie Green

Green finished off her best game of the year with a team-high 20 points, one assist and one steal across 31 minutes of work.
She went 7-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-8 from behind the arc.
It marked her second career 20-point game and first of this season.
The five three-pointers tied a career-high for the senior.
The senior has four double digit scoring games this season and 18 for her career.
She has played 30+ minutes three times this season and 22 times in her career.

Jayla Everett

Everett finished off her night with 14 points and five assists across a team-high 34 minutes of action.
The junior went 5-for-11 from the floor and 2-for-4 from behind the arc in the loss.
She has now netted at least two triples in 13 games this season.
She has scored in double figures in five straight games and 12 games total this season for the Panthers. She has 44 career games with 10+ points scored.
The five assists led Pitt and marked her second straight game with five or more assists, the first time she has done that this season.
The junior has 12 games this season with at least 30 minutes played and 38 such games over her career.

NEXT UP

The Panthers return home on Monday night as they welcome Notre Dame to the Petersen Events Center for an 8pm tip. Monday's game will air live on the ACC Network.
Monday's game will also be the Panthers' annual "Pink the Pete" game.

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