Panthers Drop Heartbreaker To Syracuse Sunday, 67-65

Sunday, February 13

Pittsburgh, Pa.

2:00 PM

Pitt

11-13,2-11ACC

Syracuse

11-12,4-9ACC

Syracuse

Pittsburgh

Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics

Panthers Drop Heartbreaker To Syracuse Sunday, 67-65

2/13/2022 5:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team (11-13, 2-11 ACC) led for 35 minutes but they weren't able to hold on down the stretch as they fell 67-65 to the Syracuse Orange on Sunday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center during the Panthers' 15^th annual Pink The Pete game.

Junior Amber Brown led the way for the Panthers in the loss as she posted her seventh career double-double, finishing with a team-high 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals on 5-for-10 from the floor. Rita Igbokwe had a nice game as well as she finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in the loss. Both Brown and Igbokwe grabbed their 500^th career rebounds in the game for the Panthers in just their 74^th career games.

The Panthers had things working in the paint early on Sunday as Brown and Igbokwe each had six points in the paint to give Pitt the 12-9 lead at the media timeout in the first. Out of the media timeout, the Panthers were able to add to their lead as Taisha Exanor finished off back-to-back layups and a free throw and Jayla Everett knocked down her first triple to give Pitt the 20-13 lead after one quarter.

Pitt opened the second quarter with the first six points as Maliyah Johnson finished off a layup and Everett netted her second triple of the game to give the Panthers the 26-13 lead early in the quarter. The Orange went on an 8-4 run over the next two minutes, but Emy Hayford connected on a three to give the Panthers the 30-21 lead at the second quarter media timeout. After the media, the Orange were able to get back into the game as they closed the half on a 10-4 as Dayshanette Harris netted a pair of jumpers to end the half with Pitt leading 34-31.

After exchanging buckets early in the third, Pitt was able to push the lead out to nine, 42-33, as Cynthia Ezeja finished off a layup through contact. After five straight by Syracuse, Everett netted her third triple of the game and Harris finished off a layup to give the Panthers the 49-40 lead with four minutes to go in the third. Igbokwe posted a three-point play after an offensive rebound and Liatu King finished off an offensive rebound of her own to send the Panthers to the fourth leading 56-49.

After a Brown layup gave the Panthers a 58-51 lead, the Orange responded with six straight to cut the Pitt lead down to just one, 58-57, with seven minutes to play in the game. Pitt pushed their lead back to three, 60-57, at the media timeout as King finished off a layup after a great feed from Everett. Out of the media, the Orange were able to take their first lead of the game, 65-63, as they began to attack the bucket and connect at the free throw line. The Panthers came right back to tie the game, 65-65, as Harris found King underneath for an easy layup and the Orange took a timeout with 35 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession, Syracuse got the ball to Teisha Hyman who netted an off-balanced jumper to give the road team the 67-65 lead with nine seconds to play. Pitt was unable to tie the game at the buzzer as Browns contested jumper hit the back of the iron and the Orange picked up the 67-65 road win.

Everett finished off her 17^th double digit scoring game of the season with 11 points, a season-high seven rebounds and two steals as she connected on three triples in the loss. King came off the bench and provided Pitt with eight points and five rebounds while Harris finished off her afternoon with six points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.

As a team, the Panthers dominated the Orange on the glass 47-33 including a 20-13 lead in offensive rebounds while netting 17 second chance points. Syracuse was great from the free throw line as they connected on 25-of-28 attempts to secure the win. Pitt also outscored Syracuse 44-18 inside the paint.

The Orange were powered by a career-high 31 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals by Teisha Hyman while Alaysia Styles finished off her game with 21 points and three rebounds while going 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.

NEXT UP

Pitt will return to action on Tuesday night as they travel to Boston College for a 7:00 pm tip on ACC Network Extra. Tuesday's game was rescheduled from an earlier game that was postponed due to health and safety protocols within the Panthers program.
Pitt will then travel to Miami on Thursday night and Virginia on Sunday afternoon to wrap up their road slate for the season.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the loss, Pitt falls to 19-49 all-time against Syracuse. The Orange have won 22 straight in the series including 11 straight in Pittsburgh.
Pitt grabbed 47 rebounds in the loss and have now posted at least 35 rebounds in all 24 games this season, the longest streak to start a season in program history.
The Pitt defense held the Orange to 33.9% shooting in the game as they have held all 24 opponents this year to 45% or less shooting. Pitt is one of two teams in the nation (South Carolina) to hold all opponents this season to 45% or less shooting.
The Panthers have held 16 of 24 opponents to less than 40% shooting this season.
Pitt scored 44 points in the paint in the loss, their fifth game this season with at least 40 paint points.

Amber Brown

Brown finished off her afternoon with 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 26 minutes of action.
She finished the game going 5-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the free throw line.
It marked her seventh career double-double and second this season.
Brown has now scored in double figures 10 times on the season and in back-to-back games for the Panthers.
She has now grabbed 10+ rebounds 14 times in her career and three times this season.
The junior has grabbed at least five rebounds in 55 of her 74 career games in a Panther jersey.
She played 26 minutes in the loss and has now played 20+ minutes 21 times this season and in 69 of her 74 career games.