Slow Start Costs Panthers In Loss To Virginia Tech

Thursday, February 4

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7:00 PM

Pitt

4-6,2-5ACC

Virginia Tech

10-7,5-7ACC

Virginia Tech

Pittsburgh

Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics

Slow Start Costs Panthers In Loss To Virginia Tech

2/4/2021 10:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team (4-6, 2-5 ACC) dropped their second straight ACC game on Thursday night as the Virginia Tech Hokies downed the Panthers 74-55 at the Petersen Events Center.

"Obviously, I am disappointed in the way that we approached this game," said head coach Lance White. "Virginia Tech is a team that we played really well the first time for three quarters and then to start the way we did, it once again shows our discipline, mentality, and that we're just not there yet. I thought overall we battled back, but then we can't make the plays that we need to down the stretch to be competitive."

The difference in the game on Thursday night was the point off of turnovers as the Hokies were able to turn 17 Pitt turnovers into 24 points while the Panthers turned nine Virginia Tech turnovers into just seven points in the loss.

The Hokies opened up the game with the first five points before Dayshanette Harris knocked down a jumper and Amber Brown finished off a layup through contact to make the score 7-4 in favor of the visitors. After a couple Virginia Tech buckets, Brown scored again to cut the Pitt deficit to nine, 19-10, but the Hokies finished the quarter on a 9-0 run to take the 28-10 lead through 10 minutes.

The second quarter started out slow for both sides as the Hokies took their biggest lead of the half, 33-12, after a deep triple but the Panthers responded with three straight as Brown finished off another layup. Virginia Tech hit another triple midway through the quarter but the Panthers once again answered with a 10-0 run to close out the quarter as Destiny Strother knocked down a pair of triples and Rita Igbokwe finished off an offensive rebound to send the game to half with Virginia Tech clinging to a 36-25 lead.

Jayla Everett opened the third quarter with her first triple and Harris finished off a pretty euro step layup to cut the Virginia Tech lead down to eight, 45-37, early on in the quarter. The Hokies responded with an 8-0 run to force the Panthers into a timeout, 53-37, after a deep triple. Emy Hayford made a layup and Strother knocked down her fourth triple of the game to close out the scoring in the third as Pitt entered the fourth trailing 57-42.

The Panthers just weren't able to get over the hump in the final quarter as they were never able to get their deficit under 13 through the final 10 minutes. Harris took over the majority of the scoring load in the final quarter as she netted nine of the Panthers' 13 points as they fell 74-55.

Harris led the way for the Pitt offense as she netted 18 points, six rebounds and three assists while connecting on 8-for-10 from the free throw line. Strother had another strong game off the bench as she netted 12 points on 4-for-5 from behind the arc while Brown netted 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds in the loss. Everett finished off her quiet night with seven points and three assists.

As a team, the Panthers shot 36.2% from the floor while the Hokies were able to connect on 44.1% of their shot attempts. Pitt won the rebounding battle 38-36 including a 16-12 edge in offensive rebounds in the loss. The Hokies held the huge 24-7 lead in scoring off of turnovers while Pitt had the 11-2 edge in fast break scoring.

The Hokies were led offensively by Elizabeth Kitley who netted 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Aisha Sheppard netted 16 points and Georgia Amoore finished with 13 points and six assists.

UP NEXT

The Panthers will return home Sunday, Feb. 7 at 2:00 pm as the Syracuse Orange come to town for an ACC showdown. Sunday's game will air on RSN (AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh locally).
Prior to the game, the Panthers will be honoring a pair of seniors who have done so much for the program across their careers. The two seniors being honored Sunday are Gabbie Green and Cara Judkins.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the loss, Pitt falls to 5-12 all-time against the Hokies including a 3-4 mark in games in Pittsburgh. Virginia Tech has won five straight games in the series.
Pitt was held to less than 40 rebounds for just the third time this season.
The Pitt offense was not able to shoot at least 40% from the floor for just the third time this season.

Dayshanette Harris

Harris finished off her night with a team-high 18 points, six rebounds and three assists across 26 minutes of work.
She finished the game going 5-for-15 from the floor and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe. Her eight free throws made are a new career-high for the sophomore.
She has now scored in double figures in nine of nine games this season and in 25 games across her career.
She has now grabbed at least six rebounds in four games this season.

Amber Brown

Brown finished off her night with 10 points and seven rebounds across 24 minutes of work.
The sophomore went 5-for-8 from the floor and grabbed four offensive rebounds.
With her third rebound of the game, Brown went over the 300 career rebound plateau in her 41^st career game. She is the second fastest Pitt player to grab 300 rebounds since the Panthers joined the ACC in 2013-14.
She has now scored in double figures two times this season and 19 times in her career.
The sophomore led Pitt in rebounds with seven, marking the fifth time this season and 20^th time in her career she led the team in rebounding.