Women’s basketball: Panthers falter in second half at Georgetown

The Pitt women’s basketball team traveled to Georgetown with an even 13-13 record, looking to… The Pitt women’s basketball team traveled to Georgetown with an even 13-13 record, looking to earn a victory and an advantage in the win column.

And with Pitt having won five of the last six contests against the Hoyas, history seemed to be in the Panthers’ favor.

All seemed to be going according to plan, but then the second half rolled around.

The No. 18 Hoyas diverted the Panthers’ plan and came away with a 67-57 Big East Conference win, thanks in large part to a second-half resurgence. The Panthers lost the game and their even .500 mark.

The first half belonged to the Panthers, who went into the locker room with a 29-25 lead after shooting an outstanding 60 percent from the field whereas the Hoyas managed just less than 30 percent.

Throughout the entire opening half, the Panthers (13-14, 5-9 Big East) never trailed and even jumped out to a nine-point lead with 30 seconds left to play.

In addition to field goal percentage, the Panthers held the advantage in most other categories in the first 20 minutes of play, including rebounds, assists, blocked shots and free throws.

What Georgetown (21-7, 9-5 Big East) lacked early on in the game, it made up for in the second half, taking the statistical leads and eventually the final lead in the contest.

The Hoyas’ Ta’Shauna “Sugar” Rodgers led her team with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half.

Georgetown was also paced offensively by Alexa Roche and Tommacina McBride with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Pitt’s senior guard Jania Sims led all scorers with 17 points, and fellow classmate Taneisha Harrison contributed 16 points to the offensive efforts.

Sims, one of the best free-throw shooters in the Big East, earned 11 points from 13 attempts from behind the foul line.

Harrison was recently named to the Big East Honor Roll for the second time this season for her exceptional offensive performance in the Panthers’ last two games, where she averaged 24 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Chelsea Cole, the Panthers’ starting senior center, earned her Big East-leading 15th double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. As a team, the Panthers out-rebounded the Hoyas 36 to 33.

The 2011 Pitt team is composed of only senior and freshman players, and in this game, the freshman class was not well represented.

Freshman Ashlee Andersen has seen her playing time increase for the Panthers in recent games and had recorded double-digit scoring figures in two of her last three games before playing the Hoyas. But Andersen was held to just three points in her 29 minutes.

Andersen’s three points, along with just two from freshman Marquel Davis, accounted for the only points not scored by seniors.

Additionally, Davis’ basket was the lone scoring contribution from the bench.

Despite the impressive individual performances by Sims, Harrison and Cole, the Panthers were unable to maintain their dominant style of play late in the second half.

The Hoyas took their first lead of the game at 10:24 in the second half after a 3-point basket by Rodgers. Rodgers was 4-12 from behind the arc, and her team was 10-for-29.

In contrast, the Panthers were 4-for-17 from long range, with Harrison accounting for three of the four successful shots.

After gaining the 45-43 edge, the Hoyas went on a 15-6 run and extended their lead to 11, securing the Georgetown victory.

For the Panthers, it was their second loss in a row to a nationally ranked conference opponent, as they fell to the No. 20 West Virginia Mountaineers 90-79 on Saturday.

In their search to even their win-loss record, the Panthers will stay on the road and travel to face another Big East rival, St. John’s, on Saturday, Feb. 26.