Deja vu? Pitt upsets West Virginia

The Pitt women’s basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak in thrilling fashion… The Pitt women’s basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak in thrilling fashion Tuesday night, scoring a 77-75 overtime victory against West Virginia in this year’s second Backyard Brawl.

Pitt (19-8, 9-5 Big East) got revenge after falling to the No. 13 Mountaineers two weeks earlier, losing that game, 56-35. West Virginia fell to 22-5, 11-2.

The victory helped Pitt remain in a tie for fifth in the Big East.

The Panthers avoided a scare when leading scorer Shavonte Zellous sustained an injury in the second half. Zellous shrugged off the pain to score a game-high 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting.

Freshmen Taneisha Harrison and Chelsea Cole played key roles, scoring eight points each but bringing much more to the table.

Oakland Catholic graduate Meg Bulger and Olayinka Sanni led the Mountaineers with 19 points apiece.

Mallorie Winn hit a 3-pointer to put Pitt up, 74-71, with 2:20 left in overtime. With the Mountaineers still down three with less than a minute to go, Sanni had an open look inside but missed. Winn was immediately fouled and made one of two from the line.

LaQuita Owens made a tough jumper to bring the score to 77-75.

Zellous missed two free throws with 15 seconds remaining, and the Mountaineers had two chances on the following trip down the court, including a decent look for Owens. Owens missed a desperate 3-pointer at the buzzer to end it.

Chakhia Cole connected on a runner to bring the score to 67-66 with 45 seconds remaining.

Zellous was fouled on the next possession but only made one of her two free-throw attempts. After a West Virginia timeout with 17 seconds to go, Cole drove to the lane again and scored to tie the game at 68 with nine seconds left.

Winn was short with a 3-pointer as time expired to send the game to overtime.

Zellous made a long range shot to put the Panthers up, 48-45, about five minutes into the second half, and apparent tragedy struck on the next possession.

She leapt up high for a rebound with 14:46 left and landed ugly on her ankle and immediately grasped for it in pain. She was helped off the floor a minute later, walking very slowly.

Zellous missed the previous game, a loss against Marquette, with a concussion, but she only missed two minutes in this one. A minute after re-entering the affair, Zellous nailed a jumper while getting fouled, tying the game at 50 apiece.

Pitt notched its biggest lead up to that point at 63-57 when Zellous made a jumper from the free-throw line.

The game got off to a sloppy start with each side looking lethargic and committing turnovers aplenty.

Pitt threw several balls out of bounds, while West Virginia specialized in traveling.

Bulger hit a 3-pointer, but for the second time in the half, Zellous was fouled shooting one of her own and made all three foul shots to bring the score to 34-34 at the half.

The shoddy play showed in the halftime stats. Pitt shot only 37.5 percent from the field with 10 turnovers, while the Mountaineers accumulated 14 giveaways.

Pitt gained its first lead since the early minutes when Xenia Stewart connected on a 3-pointer for a 43-41 score.