Fourth quarter struggles dearly in Panthers Home Loss to #15 North Carolina

PITTSBURG Despite leading more than 20 minutes, the Pitt women’s basketball team (7-13, 0-9 ACC) fell at home to No. 15 in North Carolina on Thursday night by a score of 72-57.

Senior Dayshanette Harris had her best game in conference play when she scored 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
Starting line-up Pitt: 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
Registrations: Pitt (7-13, 0-9 ACC) | #15 North Carolina (15-5, 6-3 ACC)
Place: Petersen Event Center | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

GAME STREAM

Biggest lead: Pitt 8 | North Carolina – 18
Pipe changes: 6
Draw times: 8
Time ahead: Pitt 20:53 | North Carolina 11:29
Points from turnover: Pitt – 16 | North Carolina – 19
Points in paint: Pitt 30 | North Carolina – 26
Second Chance Points: Pitt 16 | North Carolina – 23
Quick Break Points: Pitt 4 | North Carolina – 11
Bank Points: Pitt 25 | North Carolina – 5

FIRST QUARTER

• The Panthers’ attack got under way early 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 media timeout.
• King and Strickland each had six of the first 12 for the Panthers while trailing one during the media timeout.
• From the media, Dayshanette Harris scored a triple and another deep jumper to tie the game, 17-17.
• Senior Emily Hayford ended 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 was the second-highest opening frame scoring of the season for the Panthers, as they scored 22 against Bryant in November.

SECOND QUARTER

• King opened the scoring in the second with a layup before Harris brought down some jumpers to give the Panthers a 28–26 lead at media timeout.
• From the media, Harris hit a jumper and Cynthia Ezeja completed a layup to extend the Pitt lead to four, 30-26, with two minutes remaining in the half.
• After a North Carolina triple cut the lead to one, Ezeja ended the half with a layup and a free throw on a great feed from Hayford to send the Panthers to the locker room with a 33–29 lead.
• The Panthers shot 43.3% off the ground in the first half and also grabbed 19 rebounds.

THIRD QUARTER

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

FOURTH QUARTER

• The Tar Heels put the game out of reach early in the fourth as they scored 17 of the quarter’s first 18 points to take the 61–45 lead just over four minutes later.
• Outside of the media timeout, Ezeja made a great move and completed a layup to give her seven points for the season.
• Harris took over the scoring for Pitt over the stretch as she scored 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 victory.

TEAM STATISTICS

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

NEXT ONE

• Pitt heads to Boston on Sunday to face Boston College in an ACC bout at 2 p.m. Sunday’s game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.

PITT NOTES
Team

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

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