Pitt women’s basketball falls to Florida State despite comeback try

Pitt women’s basketball has struggled with scoring in conference play. This trend continued in the first half of the game against Florida State Thursday night, as the team fell to a 23-point deficit in the first half. However, Pitt’s dramatic third-quarter comeback brought the Panthers back into the game.

Head coach Tory Verdi commends his team’s resilience despite the tough first half.

“It’s an easy game to just quit and stop fighting when you’re down like that much,” Verdi said. “But we fought back, and it was a lot of fun watching them out there competing and that’s all I’ve ever asked for.”

But it wasn’t enough. The Panthers lost to the Seminoles 76-60 in the Petersen Events Center to drop to 1-10 in the ACC. 

Last time out, Pitt shot a season-low, 28.8% scoring from the floor. This trend continued in the first quarter against Florida State. The first quarter featured 25% shooting from Pitt and five offensive rebounds for the Seminoles.

The Seminoles won the tipoff and earned the first five straight points. The Panthers struggled to score until 6:30 remained in the first quarter when sophomore guard Aislin Malcolm put up Pitt’s seventh shot of the game and sank its first basket. 

The Seminoles earned a 10-point lead with 3:23 left to go in the first quarter after a three-point shot clock buzzer beater by Seminole graduate guard Alexis Tucker. Senior forward Liatu King tried to cut Pitt’s deficit with a jumper but Florida State maintained its nine-point lead and the quarter ended 17-8.

Pitt’s shooting hardly improved in the second quarter. The Panthers went 9-for-36 in the first half and looked like they were on the way to another season-low scoring percentage. In addition to their poor shooting, the Panthers managed a 17% turnover rate in the half as well. 

The Panthers’ deficit increased in the second quarter until graduate student forward Jala Jordan made the first Pitt basket of the second with 7:05 remaining. Less than 10 seconds later junior guard Bella Perkins had a breakaway but missed the open layup. Pitt went 6-13 in layups in the second half.

Pitt missed its next three shots in a row, and the Seminoles extended their advantage to 31-12 after capitalizing on an offensive rebound.

Sophomore guard Marley Washenitz shed some light on Pitt’s grim shooting percentage after she sank an impressive driving layup late in the second. But Florida State responded with two of their own layups and led 38-17 with 1:41 left in the half. 

What Pitt lacked in shots, they also lacked on the defensive end. The Seminoles managed 16 points in the paint, and five were off of fast breaks. 

In the last four seconds of the half King found a path down the lane and sunk the layup to chip at the Seminole advantage before the second half. The Seminoles went into the half with a 42-19 lead. 

Pitt brought a completely different team out in the third quarter. The Panthers went from a 24-point deficit to a five-point deficit in less than eight minutes and outscored the Seminoles 29-18 for the quarter. King praised her team’s momentum in the third quarter.

“Our motto is to go until we stop,” King said. “I feel like we did that the best in the third quarter.”

It all started with more ball movement on offense, which created an opportunity for Jordan to sink the first shot of the quarter. 

Pitt forced a Florida State timeout at 7:26 after back-to-back layups from King and first-year guard Aaryn Battle. The timeout did anything but stop Pitt’s momentum. Battle picked up her fifth point of the game, and the Panthers followed with a jump shot and layup. 

With 2:46 left in the third, Malcolm drove down the lane for another layup and cut the Seminoles’ advantage to five, forcing another Florida State timeout.

Florida State outscored Pitt 10-3 after the timeout and the Panthers went into the fourth 60-48.

The Seminoles brought back their comfortable advantage halfway through the final quarter and extended their lead 68-52. 

With 1:27 to go and the Panthers down by 16, Verdi called the last timeout of the game. Pitt played hard in the last 1:30, but they couldn’t finish the comeback. 

Pitt returns to the court this Sunday at home against No. 3 NC State at 12 p.m.