Pitt women’s basketball falls to Boston College, extends ACC losing streak to five

Pitt women’s basketball has faced a cold winter so far prior to Sunday’s contest at Boston College. The Panthers have dropped their last four games, including a 30-point blowout to Louisville on Thursday. 

Boston College defended its home turf with an 84-71 win over Pitt in overtime. Senior forward Liatu King and graduate student forward Jala Jordan each scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed seven and nine rebounds, respectively.

All five Boston College starters finished in double figures. Boston College junior guard Andrea Daley finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, and senior guard Dontavia Waggoner finished with 21 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Teya Sidberry recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

King got the Panthers going offensively with a baseline jumper off of an inbounds pass with 7:43 left in the first period. King has proven herself as the engine of the Panthers’ efforts this season, averaging just under a double-double with 19.4 points and 9.9 rebounds.

Pitt first-year guard Aaryn Battle, who started the season with limited minutes, started seeing a much-increased workload after the second game of the season for the Panthers. In the Panther’s last win, which came against Le Moyne, Battle posted 17 points and played all 40 minutes.

First-year guard Jasmine Timmerson knocked down a three with 5:30 left in the first quarter to help the offense settle in. Timmerson was recently put into the starting line-up and has shown promise working with Jordan in helping each other generate open looks. 

Boston College controlled much of the first quarter with a 7-0 run, ending with a jumper by Boston College sophomore guard Kayla Lezama. The Panthers had seven turnovers in the first quarter, with nine different players touching the floor, showing that this Panthers team is still trying to find what works.

First-year forward Lauren Rust checked into the game late in the first quarter but quickly became the leading scorer for the Panthers after knocking down both free throws and running rim-to-rim on a fast break to get the dump-off pass from Battle.

The first period ended in an 11-11 tie going into the short break.

To start the second quarter, Pitt junior guard Bella Perkins and Jordan got the offense started with a pick-and-roll, sending Jordan to the free throw line, where she made both. Perkins, a skilled shooter, helped the offense slow down on some possessions and hunt for an open shot.

Boston College played the entire first half fast, generating good looks on most of their trips down the floor. Even more importantly, the Eagles earned better looks off of offensive rebounds. The Eagles grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the first half and scored seven points off those rebounds.

Turnovers, which were a problem for the Panthers all season, kept giving Boston College fast-break opportunities into the second quarter. Pitt gave the ball up another six times to bring them to 13 turnovers on the half. The Eagles scored 14 points off turnovers in the first half. 

Daley found a steady rhythm with her tight handle and finishing ability in the second quarter, scoring eight points and four rebounds. Daley was one of several Eagles that benefited from their off-ball movement.

The other first-half stand out was Waggoner, who had six points, three rebounds and three assists in the second quarter alone. Waggoner found Daley on a baseline cut with 4:22 left in the quarter.

Sophomore guard Marley Washenitz, a player that Pitt head coach Tory Verdi has said delivers a lot of the day-to-day leadership on the team, drew two offensive fouls on Boston College in the final three minutes of the second quarter. Washenitz leads the Panthers in drawn charges on the season.

Remarkably, the Eagles had 13 more field goal attempts than the Panthers in the first half. But the Panthers kept it close, with Boston College leading 32-27 going into the break.

Coming out of the break, the Panthers realized they only had four points in the paint in the first half and gave Jordan a look inside for a wide-open lay-up. This was followed by a sophomore guard Aislin Malcolm lay-up, where she dribbled through almost every Eagle defender with 7:48 left in the third quarter.

Malcolm, who averages 10.4 points per game, has proven herself as a crucial piece for the Panthers, especially on possessions that King or Jordan aren’t dominating the paint.

Malcolm called her own number with 5:37 left in the third quarter, taking the defender off the dribble for a pull-up jumper, and showing off her handle ability. 

Waggoner and Daley showed their skills on the other side of the ball, with each recording a steal that ended in a fast-break lay-up, forcing Verdi to call a timeout to get the Panthers to settle down. 

Right out of the timeout, the Panthers made it count with a quick two-pass set to give King an and-one opportunity at the rim with 4:23 remaining in the third quarter. Two minutes later, King showed off her footwork with a spin-move in the paint, giving her a second-and-one opportunity to bring the deficit to 48-45.

Battle pushed the ball up the floor to Washenitz, who cashed in a transition three-pointer to get the deficit within two with 1:41 left in the third quarter before Daley rattled off five straight points to regain space.

Boston College led Pitt 58-50 entering the fourth quarter, with Panther turnovers continuing to hurt their chances as they recorded another seven in the third quarter.

King turned a post-up into a strong drive and put back her own miss to bring the Pitt deficit to 60-57 with 6:39 to play. 

Jordan and King showed the Panthers that if they could get an entry pass into the post, the duo was going to reward them with points on the board. Jordan, who hit three three-pointers in the last game against Louisville, is a versatile scorer.

Pitt took the lead 63-62 with 3:12 left to go, their first lead since the first quarter, off of an offensive rebound by Washenitz and a spin move by Jordan. As a unit, the Panthers turned it over less in the final period with four turnovers compared to about an average of seven turnovers in the other three periods.

After a Battle turnover with eight seconds left on the clock, a missed three-pointer by Boston College sent the contest into overtime tied at 65-65.

The first half of overtime was controlled by the Eagles, who finished a 9-2 run with a jumper by redshirt junior guard Kaylah Ivey, before Coach Verdi’s final timeout. Ivey finished with six points in overtime.

The offensive glass continued to hurt the Panthers as it had all game. Boston College gained their largest lead of the game, leading 84-71 with 21 seconds left in overtime after the Eagles knocked down both technical free throws. 

The Eagles bested the Panthers 84-71 in overtime, winning their eighth straight home game to go 2-3 in the ACC. The Panthers finished the game with 26 turnovers.

The Panthers have now lost five straight to ACC opponents. Pitt will hope to get back on track as it hosts Syracuse on Jan. 21 at 2:00 p.m.