Wake Forest tops Pitt, 58-49

Yacine Diop hit a three-pointer to bring Pitt within one point of Wake Forest with 2:53 remaining in the fourth quarter. The three gave Diop 26 points on the night, a team high; but they would be the last points both she and Pitt scored as it fell to Wake Forest 58-49 on Thursday night.

After a tough loss to Virginia on Dec. 28, the Pitt women’s basketball team (8-7) failed to get its first conference win of the season against Wake Forest (9-6), giving up a four point lead in the fourth quarter.

Diop, a junior guard, was the star of the first half, amassing over half of the Panthers’ total points with 12 and grabbing six rebounds. Diop also contributed a block for a ferocious Panthers defense that had six steals and four blocks in the first half.

The first half was a low scoring affair with Pitt clinging to a four point 21-17 lead at half time. Pitt only managed to score four total points during the second quarter.

The pace picked up in the second half as the Panthers scored four points in the opening minute of the third quarter off of two consecutive jump shots from junior forward Danielle Garven. The Panthers jumped out to a 29-20 lead over the first three minutes of the third quarter, but the Demon Deacons came surging back to cut the Panthers’ lead to four. The Panthers led 39-35 after a high scoring third quarter.

Wake Forest’s offense continued to flourish in the fourth, taking their first lead of the second half with just over eight minutes left in the game. Wake Forest went on to outscore Pitt 23-10 in the fourth quarter, claiming the lead for good with just over five minutes remaining.

The Panthers went cold as Diop was the only player to score over the last seven minutes of the game. With this loss, the Panthers are one of the five remaining ACC teams without a conference win.

Pitt will next face North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Jan. 7. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.