Women’s Basketball: Panthers fall to Drexel over break

The Pitt women’s basketball team’s three-game win streak ended Saturday in a home loss to… The Pitt women’s basketball team’s three-game win streak ended Saturday in a home loss to Drexel.

Pitt (3-2) fell 71-50 in its second defeat of the season. Following a game against Central Michigan in which they never fell behind, the Panthers trailed nearly the entire contest against the Dragons.

Pitt lead only once: 1:30 into the game after a bucket from redshirt sophomore Abby Dowd.

The closest Pitt came to retaining the lead the rest of the game came midway through the first half when Brianna Kiesel’s 3-pointer pulled the Panthers within five.

Drexel used a 12-1 scoring run to pull away in the last six minutes before the break, and the Panthers went into halftime down 39-24.

In the post-game press conference, Pitt sophomore guard Marquel Davis said Drexel’s basketball IQ caused problems for Pitt.

“They knew what cut to make, when to make it and how to get around the box-out,” Davis said. “They were very different from the past two teams we played because they took their time, and that helped them get more of their shots knocked down.”

Head coach Agnus Berenato traced the loss back to one simple fact.

“When you make shots, it makes all the difference,” Berenato said in the post-game press conference.

Drexel made close to half of its shots from the field — 49.2 percent — while Pitt made just 33.3 percent of its shots.

The Panthers’ struggles from beyond the arc continued as they failed to convert at least 30 percent of their opportunities for the fourth time this season.

The Pitt team also lost the battle of points in the paint 32-18, a defeat Berenato chalked up to Drexel’s offensive schemes.

“What was happening was they were doing a lot of slips, and we were really focused on their shooters, Hollie Mershon and Kamile Nacickaite, playing man-to-man defense,” Berenato said. “Then when we switched to zone defense, we had a hard time adjusting. Our posts were out and everyone was still focused on their shooters, then the next thing you know someone slips by and gets a layup.”

Mershon’s and Nacickaite’s 13 and 23 points, respectively, led the Dragons, who moved to 3-1 on the season.

Nacickaite helped the Dragons jump out to an early lead in the first six minutes with 13 first-half points.

Tyler Hale and Taylor Wootton also reached double figures for Drexel with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Davis continued to lead the way for the Panthers offensively as she finished in double digits for the third straight game with a team-high 19 points.

Davis was the only Panther to reach double figures. The rest of Pitt’s starters struggled to produce, finishing with a combined 16 points.

Berenato said she saw positives in the loss.

“Chyna Golden, who is just a freshman, had 14 rebounds [a career high], and I think that any time you can have a freshman get 14 rebounds that truly is amazing,” she said. “We’ve been trying to get Chyna to be more aggressive and rebound, and she did a great job.”

The team committed a season-low 14 turnovers, down from the season average of 22.5.

Davis attributed the team’s difficulties to a lack of communication on the floor.

“At times, all of the guards were on one page and the posts on another,” Davis said. “Instead of getting together and already knowing what we were going to run, we would wait until mid-play to see what was going on.”

Redshirt sophomore Leeza Burdgess grabbed seven rebounds against the Dragons, bringing her season average to eight rebounds per game.

For Berenato, both of Pitt’s defeats coming by more than 20 points doesn’t serve as cause for alarm. Rather, she views both losses as crucial learning experiences.

“These girls have to be willing to learn and feel like they can play against our opponents,” Berenato said.