Fourth Quarter Struggles Costly In Panthers Home Loss To #15 North Carolina

Thursday, January 26

Pittsburgh, Pa.

6:00 PM

Pitt

7-13,0-9ACC

North Carolina

15-5,6-3ACC

North Carolina

Pittsburgh

Fourth Quarter Struggles Costly In Panthers Home Loss To #15 North Carolina

1/26/2023 9:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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PITTSBURGH – Despite leading for over 20 minutes, the Pitt women's basketball team (7-13, 0-9 ACC) fell at home Thursday night to #15 North Carolina by the score of 72-57.

Senior Dayshanette Harris had her best game in conference play as she netted a team-high 16 points and two rebounds as she went 7-for-12 from the floor in 26 minutes of work. Liatu King finished her night with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks while Amber Brown had 11 points, four assists and three rebounds in 31 minutes of work.

ESSENTIAL GAME INFO
Pitt starting lineup: Marley Washenitz, Maliyah Johnson, Avery Strickland, Liatu King, Amber Brown
North Carolina starting lineup: Deja Kelly, Destiny Adams, Anya Poole, Alyssa Ustby, Kennedy Todd-Williams
Records: Pitt (7-13, 0-9 ACC) | #15 North Carolina (15-5, 6-3 ACC)
Location: Petersen Events Center | Pittsburgh, PA

GAME FLOW
Largest lead: Pitt – 8 | North Carolina - 18
Lead changes: 6
Times tied: 8
Time with lead: Pitt – 20:53 | North Carolina – 11:29
Points off turnovers: Pitt - 16 | North Carolina - 19
Points in paint: Pitt – 30 | North Carolina - 26
Second chance points: Pitt – 16 | North Carolina - 23
Fast break points: Pitt – 4 | North Carolina - 11
Bench points: Pitt – 25 | North Carolina - 5

FIRST QUARTER

The Panthers offense got going early on as Liatu King opened the scoring with a jumper in the paint and Avery Strickland knocked down a pair of triples as Pitt trailed the Tar Heels 13-12 at the media timeout.
King and Strickland each had six of the first 12 for the Panthers as they trailed by one at the media timeout.
Out of the media, Dayshanette Harris netted a triple and another deep jumper to tie the game, 17-17.
Senior Emy Hayford finished the scoring in the quarter with a driving layup through traffic to give Pitt the 21-19 lead through 10 minutes.
The 21-point first quarter marked the Panthers second best scoring opening frame of the season as they netted 22 against Bryant in November.

SECOND QUARTER

King opened the scoring in the second with a layup before Harris knocked down a pair of jumpers to give the Panthers the 28-26 lead at the media timeout.
Out of the media, Harris hit a jumper and Cynthia Ezeja finished off a layup to extend the Pitt lead to four, 30-26, with two minutes to play in the half.
After a North Carolina triple cut the lead to one, Ezeja finished off the half with a layup and free throw after a great feed by Hayford to send the Panthers to the locker room with the 33-29 lead.
The Panthers shot 43.3% from the floor in the opening half while also grabbing 19 rebounds.

THIRD QUARTER

After the Tar Heels opened the scoring with a pair of free throws, Pitt scored the next six points as Amber Brown finished a layup and Strickland knocked down a triple to push the Panthers lead out to 39-31.
UNC used a 4-1 run to make it 40-35 at the media timeout in the third quarter.
The Tar Heels cut the Pitt lead to three, 42-39, but Brown sank a pair of free throws to push it back to a five-point lead, 44-39.
The Tar Heels ended the quarter on a 5-0 run as they tied the game, 44-44, through 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER

The Tar Heels put the game out of reach early in the fourth as they scored 17 of the first 18 points of the quarter to take the 61-45 lead just over four minutes in.
Out of the media timeout, Ezeja made a great move and finished off a layup to give her a season-high seven points.
Harris took over the scoring for Pitt down the stretch as she netted five points to give her a team-high 16 for the game.
The Tar Heels made free throws down the stretch to secure the 72-57 road win.

TEAM STATS

Pitt finished the game shooting 36.8% from the floor while the Tar Heels shot 42.6% in the win.
Pitt was outrebounded 38-31 in the game while also being outscored in second chance points, 23-16.
The Pitt bench outscored North Carolina 25-5 in the loss.

UP NEXT

Pitt heads to Boston on Sunday to take on Boston College in an ACC battle at 2:00 pm. Sunday's game will air live on ACC Network Extra.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the loss, Pitt falls to 6-7 all-time against the Tar Heels including a 4-2 mark in Pittsburgh. The win for North Carolina also marks their fourth straight in the series.

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