Women’s Basketball: Hemingway, Orange roll over Pitt

Iasia Hemingway scored a career-high 33 points for Syracuse when the Orange handily defeated… Iasia Hemingway scored a career-high 33 points for Syracuse when the Orange handily defeated Pitt 83-60 on Saturday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt had no answer for the senior, who scored 18 of her 33 points in the second half after the Panthers stayed within seven points of the Orange in the first half.

Pitt had a 16-5 run midway through the first half that illustrated the potential present in the young squad.

In the middle of the run, Abby Dowd was fouled in the act of shooting from her immovable place beyond the arc. After Dowd converted all three of her free throws, Pitt head coach Agnus Berenato switched to a full-court press that paid immediate dividends as Ashlee Anderson intercepted an errant pass at the Orange free-throw line and converted for a three-point play.

Pitt’s inspired play roused the dormant crowd and, for one of the few times this season, there was some semblance of an excited atmosphere inside the Petersen Events Center. However, the 26-25 lead — Pitt’s only lead of the game — would last less than a minute, from 5:51 to 4:54.

During that span, the Panthers added only one point to make it a two-point lead (27-25) before allowing Syracuse to draw even with two Phylesha Bullard free throws.

Redshirt sophomore Ashlee Anderson, who led the Panthers with 14 points, said communication was to blame for Pitt surrendering the lead so quickly.

“We didn’t do a good job talking, and that’s kind of where a lot of our mistakes came because they had two back-to-back threes [by Carmen Tyson-Thomas],” Anderson said. ”We just have to do a better job of talking. And just knowing where the players are on the court and who has the hot hand in that situation.”

Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said that when he looked at game tape from two years ago, he saw that an effective way to attack Pitt was through the high post.

The high post was Hemingway’s main point of attack despite Pitt constantly crowding the paint, which made it difficult for Hemingway to get the ball.

Over time, her teammates’ performance opened the floor up.

“At the free-throw line, it was like one [Pitt player] behind me, one in front of me, so it was tough to get me the ball,” Hemingway said. “But Carmen and La’Shay [Taft] made some threes so they had to go out a little bit, which made it better for me to get the ball in the high post.”

Hillsman said his team did a good job of limiting its turnovers and capitalizing on Pitt’s.

“We just wanted to take care of the ball ourselves,” Hillsman said. “Normally, we’re on the back end of turning the ball over. We’ve been making a real conscious effort of just protecting the ball. I thought that was huge for us so when we can flip that number and win the points off turnovers it’s very big for us.”

Syracuse converted 23 points off 23 Pitt turnovers.

If the first half showed the team’s potential, the second half highlighted the team’s inexperience.

Berenato lamented her team’s performance in the second half.

“They caused a lot of problems with our offense in the second half,” she said. “I thought in the first half we stayed with them and really kept to our game plan. And in the second half we just went haywire, you know, we didn’t score. We need to get production. We have to be able to get baskets.”

In the second half, Pitt struggled to solve the hyperactive Syracuse half-court defense, settling for outside or contested looks.

As a result, the team’s field goal percentage fell from 41.4 percent in the first half to 29.2 percent in the second half.

“[The Orange] were really active, and they moved on defense,” Berenato said. “I thought their guards moved. Their guards pinched … I felt we were hesitant … They didn’t give you a lot of looks.”

Anderson agreed, saying that the team needs to be more decisive when it has possession.

The Panthers’ defense also drew Berenato’s ire.

“You can’t give a team 38 free throws,” she said. “A goal was not to give them free throws. We fouled them at will. Every time down the court, we fouled them.”

Sophomore Marquel Davis, who finished with 11, said Hemingway exploited a matchup problem for Pitt.

“She has a quicker step than most posts because she’s a small post, so … she’s kind of guardlike,” Davis said. “A lot of times we let her get the ball, and then it was a one-on-one situation. That’s like her game; she wants to go one-on-one with the post,”

The Panthers are back in action tomorrow night against Rutgers at the Petersen Events Center.