Women’s basketball: Panthers drop 3rd straight game, still winless in Big East

The Pitt women’s basketball team never led in the second half as the No. 22 Panthers dropped… The Pitt women’s basketball team never led in the second half as the No. 22 Panthers dropped their third straight game 52-46 to Rutgers.

The Panthers (11-5, 0-3 Big East) fell behind by as many as eight points in the second half at the Petersen Events Center on Sunday, dropping from 40.9 percent shooting in the first half to 20.7 percent in the second half.

“[The Scarlet Knights] wanted a game in the 50s,” Pitt head coach Agnus Berenato said. “They got us out of our running game and that’s a problem. They are the type of team that wants you to slow down. It feels like 7 o’clock at night. It was a long game.”

Pitt point guard Jania Sims said the Panthers’ guards were passive compared to the Rutgers (10-6, 2-0) backcourt, who attacked the basket in order to reach the foul line.

“I thought we started out with a little spark and then got passive,” Sims said. “I think our guards are strong enough with the ball that we can attack back, but that’s something we didn’t do today.”

Despite the lack of aggression and shooting difficulties, Pitt was able to pull within two points twice in the second half.

The first came following a 10-4, nine-minute Rutgers run that gave the Scarlet Knights a seven-point lead.

Sims answered with two foul shots at the 6:55 mark and Taneisha Harrison followed with a three-pointer to cut the score to 40-38.

However, the Panthers were unable to capitalize on their next possession after a Rutgers traveling violation.

Rashidat Junaid hit a tip-in and a layup for Rutgers to boost the lead back to six.

On their next possession, Pitt gave up one of its 21 turnovers and Nikki Speed hit a breakaway layup to give Rutgers a game-high eight-point lead with 4:21 remaining.

But Pitt refused to go down easily.

Shayla Scott and Harrison hit consecutive 3-pointers to bring the Panthers within four points and Sophronia Sallard followed by draining two free throws to make the score 48-46 with 1:30 remaining.

On their next possession, the Panthers were unable to find a good look before the end of the shot clock. Scott threw a jumper up as the clock expired, but it didn’t hit the rim.

Berenato said she called a play for the possession, but Rutgers did a good job of taking away the shot.

“At that time, it doesn’t matter what happens, no matter what defense they are playing, somebody has to step up and take the shot,” Berenato said. “It looked like nobody wants to take the shot.”

The Panthers sent Khadijah Rushdan to the line, where she missed the back end of a one-and-one. But Pitt was unable to grab the rebound and Harrison was forced to foul Brittany Ray.

Ray missed the second shot, but Rutgers’ Chelsey Lee grabbed the rebound. Ray then sealed the game with two free throws with five seconds remaining to produce the six-point final deficit.

“We just need to close out the games,” Sims said. “We are doing things we shouldn’t do, like not boxing out. Coach always says that little things make big things happen and we’re not doing the little things.”

At the end of the first half, Harrison hit an off-balance jumper from the top of the key to bring the Panthers within two going into the break.

In the closely contested first half, containing five ties and five lead-changes, neither team led by more than four points.

Rutgers’ bench proved important down the stretch before the break. Lee made a layup with two minutes remaining to tie the game. Monique Oliver scored with 45 seconds left in the half to boost the Scarlet Knights’ lead from one to three.

After Shawnice “Pepper” Wilson went 1-of-2 from the foul line with 30 seconds remaining in the half, Myia McCurdy,another Rutgers bench player, hit a shot to boost the Rutgers lead to four — the largest of the half.

That’s when Taneisha Harrison took the last shot before the break, draining the jumper to bring the Panthers within two, 27-25, at halftime.

Pitt and Rutgers were statistically even throughout the first half, both shooting close to 40 percent from the field and going 1-for-8 and 1-for-7 from behind the arc, respectively.

But by the game’s end, Rutgers shot 37.8 percent from the field compared to 29.4 percent for the Panthers.

Wilson pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for the Panthers, who out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights 37-35, to go along with six points.

Harrison was the only Panther to reach double figures with 13 points off the bench. Sims and Sallard each added eight points.

Berenato said Harrison’s scoring success was a “bright spot” in Pitt’s loss, as Harrison was held scoreless in the last two games.

Ray led all scorers with 17 points, only shooting 3-14 from the field and 3-8 from beyond the arc, but going 8-11 from the foul line.

“She [Ray] struggled quite a bit today,” Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer said. “It’s really good that we were able to win, because unfortunately nobody else on the perimeter was getting it done either. What’s key here is Brittany making foul shots.”

Junaid contributed 16 points and addednine rebounds for the Scarlet Knights.

The Panthers will look for their first Big East win when they take on West Virginia at the Petersen Events Center on Jan. 17. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.

“For the team, the break is probably a good thing because now we’ll have off tomorrow and we’ll be able to maybe work on some things that have to do with us,” Berenato said, “I think we are a pretty decent team when we have time for preparation.”