Women’s Basketball: Panthers lose eighth straight game

The Pitt women’s basketball team roster depleted further on Tuesday night when sophomore guard… The Pitt women’s basketball team roster depleted further on Tuesday night when sophomore guard Asia Logan injured her shoulder on a loose ball pileup in the first half.

Logan didn’t return to the game as the Panthers (8-14, 0-9 Big East) fell to St. John’s (14-8, 6-3 Big East) 66-51 at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt — which has lost eight straight games — has already been without freshman guard Loliya Briggs all season and also lost freshman forward Cora McManus, who is having shoulder surgery on Thursday and will be out for eight months.

Logan is currently averaging 6.2 points per game. The severity of her injury and her timetable for return weren’t known, but Pitt head coach Agnus Berenato said it would “be tough for [Logan] to make a comeback.”

“It gives us a great opportunity to face adversity,” Berenato said. “You know what, if we’re going to go ahead and learn, then we might as well go learn … and get it all done in one year. Let’s just make a pact: We get it out of the way this year, and let’s learn from it.”

St. John’s head coach Kim Barnes Arico said she empathized with the Panthers.

“When you’re inexperienced, this league is unforgiving on any given night,” Arico said.

Pitt had 15 turnovers in the first half, but managed to keep it close by shooting 50 percent from the field.

Guard Ashlee Anderson’s back-to-back 3-pointers sparked a 10-4 run with 3:30 left in the first half, keeping the Panthers within striking distance.

The Panthers ended the half on a 7-0 run to close the gap to one point, 28-27, but they couldn’t hold on to the momentum after the break.

The Red Storm opened the half with a 6-0 run off two Pitt turnovers and never let Pitt back into the game.

Four of the six points during the run came off fast-break chances. Freshman point guard Brianna Kiesel said the Red Storm’s aggressive defense resulted in fast-break points.

Pitt had one of its best shooting halves all season to start the game, shooting 50 percent from the field. In the second half, the Panthers shot just 30 percent from the field.

Anderson — Pitt’s leading scorer with 19 points — picked up her third foul on the first possession of the second half.

She stayed in the game but failed to score another point until there was 6:48 to go in regulation.

Anderson tried to explain the team’s struggles scoring the ball.

“It just hasn’t been there offensively,” Anderson said. “We’re getting better at taking shots and making shots, but we have to take more shots and make more shots.”

Turnovers proved costly for Pitt, as St. John’s converted 26 points off 26 Panther turnovers.

“You can’t have 26 turnovers,” Berenato said. “It’s just really tough to overcome.”

Arico said she thought her team’s failure to finish chances off turnovers kept the game close.

St. John’s forward Da’Shena Stevens led all scorers with 19 points.

The Red Storm dominated inside, winning the points-in-the-paint battle 46-14.

Berenato said her team knew the Red Storm would attack the lane, but the Panthers still weren’t able to stop the inside attack.

“We knew that they were very, very powerful in the paint,” Berenato said. “We knew they did that — we knew that they scored in the paint. We played a lot of 2-3 zone, but they were still able to get into the gaps and score.”