Women’s Basketball: Pitt falls in City Game

The Pitt women’s basketball team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end at the hands… The Pitt women’s basketball team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of cross-town rival Duquesne (13-2) as the Panthers (8-6) lost the City Game 70-62.

Throughout the string of victories, the Panthers used rebounding dominance and a high shooting percentage to pull away from opponents. Against Duquesne, those trends were absent.

“We missed a lot of really easy shots — contested, yes — but if you don’t knock them down, you have to get offensive rebounds and we were killed on the boards,” Pitt head coach Agnus Berenato said in a press release.

The Dukes out-rebounded the Panthers 47-35 and held Pitt forward Chelsea Cole to just eight points and eight rebounds.

Cole, a senior, entered the game leading the Big East in double-doubles with eight on the season.

Pitt’s 38.9 percent performance from the field was a significant drop-off from previous efforts, especially given the Panthers’ 49 percent outing in their most recent win against Central Michigan.

The Central Michigan victory also marked Pitt’s best 3-point performance as they drained 12 baskets from behind the arc.

Against Duquesne, the Panthers made only four long-range shots on eight attempts. The Dukes also converted four 3-point baskets.

Duke junior guard Alex Gensler led all players with a 3-5 mark from 3-point range and ended the contest with 19 total points.

The Panthers were led offensively by senior guard Jania Sims who finished with a game-high total of 21 points, complemented by four assists.

Sims, who played 38 minutes in the game, leads the team in scoring. She averages more than 13 points per game.

Fellow seniors Taneisha Harrison and Shayla Scott also contributed double-digit scoring performances against Duquesne with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

It was Harrison’s sixth consecutive game in double figures, whereas Scott extended her streak to four straight games.

Duquesne gained an advantage through bench scoring, as 20 of the Dukes’ final 70 points came from substituted players. Meanwhile, the Panthers managed only eight points from the bench.

The Panthers turned the ball over 21 times in comparison to Duquesne’s 15. The Dukes were able to convert Pitt’s turnovers into 17 points.

“Give credit to Duquesne. I think that turnovers cost us the game,” Berenato said. “Our shooting was awful [to start] and when we settled down and attacked the basket, we played well and played within our game and were able to get scores.”

One positive for the Panthers came from their continued ability to block shots.

Pitt recorded 12 blocks against the Dukes, just one shy of the record since Berenato became head coach. Scott led the way with four blocks, bringing her season total to 21.

The game was the 29th contest between the two Pittsburgh teams and the Duquesne win placed the series record at 19-10 in favor of Pitt.

With the loss to Duquesne, the Panthers end their nonconference schedule and will prepare the challenges that the Big East Conference will bring.

“We just need to go back to the drawing board and execute like when we were on the winning streak,” Sims said. “We took ourselves out tonight, especially with the turnovers. Hopefully we will go back and know what we need to do to get better and prepare for the Big East season.”