Women’s Basketball: Panthers can’t hold onto halftime lead against Syracuse

Despite 21 points from Shayla Scott and 18 from Jania Sims, the Pitt women’s basketball… Despite 21 points from Shayla Scott and 18 from Jania Sims, the Pitt women’s basketball team fell 87-80 in overtime to the Syracuse Orange last night.

In their second extra-period game of the season, the Panthers (12-9, 1-7 Big East) were unable to come up with the same result as their last trip to overtime. Pitt defeated Austin Peay 76-75 in an overtime game Dec. 20.

“Before we played South Florida [on Jan. 20], we talked about how we had to go 8-4 to finish out our season,” Scott said. “Right now, we’re 1-3 from that point. We needed this win just to go off how we played against Providence.”

Pitt notched its first Big East victory with a 72-58 win over Providence on Jan. 23.

The Panthers were outscored 15-8 in overtime, with Vionca Murray scoring the first five Syracuse points of the period, only broken up by a Scott layup at the other end.

“Going into overtime, we knew we had to carry over and bring energy,” Sims said. “We have to come out and play two halves of basketball and we didn’t do that.”

After Chelsea Cole brought Pitt within one with a layup in overtime, Nicole Michael hit a jumper and Erica Morrow went two-of-two from the line to make the score 83-78 in favor of the Orange with 50.8 seconds remaining.

Michael followed with two foul shots to make the score 85-78 and seal the game for the Orange (17-5, 4-5 Big East).

In the second half, the Panthers found themselves with the late lead, but were unable to maintain it.

With 1:46 remaining in the second half, Pitt held a 72-69 advantage off Taneisha Harrison’s jumper and Scott’s foul shot.

Michael drew the foul at the other end, making one-of-two to bring the Orange within two and claim Syracuse’s career scoring record.

With 30 seconds remaining in the second half, Michael made a layup to tie the game at 72 and eventually send the game into overtime.

The Panthers held possession for the last shot at the other end, but Sims’ jumper fell short.

“I had a great look,” Sims said. “I should have nailed it. Initially the play wasn’t for me, and it broke down. I came off the screen and shot it. I missed it, but I’m glad I took the shot.”

Late in the second half, Pitt coach Agnus Berenato said the Panthers didn’t have anyone on the floor who wanted to score.

“The last four minutes of the second half, we had the opportunity, and we played past it,” Berenato said. “You can’t play not to lose. You have to play to win.”

In the first four minutes of the second half, the Panthers saw their 42-38 halftime lead disappear.

“We felt like we were in command and in charge [at halftime],” Berenato said. “We didn’t carry over.”

A fast-break layup from Carmen Tyson-Thomas gave the Orange its largest advantage of the second half at 55-50 with 12:59 remaining.

Brittaney Thomas nailed a key 2-pointer to tie the game with 8:21 remaining. Tyson-Thomas answered with a jumper, but Scott gave Pitt the 64-63 lead with a three.

A Chelsea Cole layup gave the Panthers a 68-65 advantage, although she missed the ensuing foul shot that would have put the Orange in a four-point deficit.

After Syracuse grabbed an early 4-2 advantage in the first half, Pitt scored the next 12 points, with Scott and Shawnice “Pepper” Wilson scoring five points each en route to building a 14-4 lead.

However, the Orange countered with an 8-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to 14-12.

With 6:40 remaining in the first half, the game was tied at 27-27. That’s when Thomas went on a 6-0 run of her own. She hit two consecutive 3-pointers to give the Panthers a six-point lead, and they didn’t trail for the remainder of the half.

Pitt went into the half with a 42-38 lead, its largest first-half point total in Big East play. It was only the third time in Big East play that the Panthers scored 30 or more points in the first half.

Berenato said that despite the loss, the game revealed solid statistics for the Panthers that they haven’t seen in a long time, including several girls in double figures.

Scott grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with her 21 points, while Wilson and Thomas added 10 and 14 points, respectively.

However, the story of the game for the Panthers ended up being turnovers once again. Pitt turned the ball over 24 times, resulting in 27 Syracuse points.

“You have to look at the stat sheet, and it’s turnovers,” Berenato said. “That’s ballgame.”

The Panthers return to the floor on Saturday as they travel to South Bend, Ind. to take on No. 3 Notre Dame.