Panthers fail to win three straight, fall to Hurricanes

Pitt’s two-game conference winning streak ended Saturday in Miami with a 77-68 loss to the No…. Pitt’s two-game conference winning streak ended Saturday in Miami with a 77-68 loss to the No. 21 Hurricanes.

Miami (15-1, 4-1 Big East), playing without its leading scorer, Tamara James, who was out with a sprained neck, took advantage of Pitt’s 27 turnovers to record the victory.

The Panthers dropped to 2-3 in Big East play and 6-9 overall.

Senior forward LaToya Kincaid fell just short of her third consecutive double-double, scoring a game-high 21 points and pulling down a team-best eight rebounds. All but two of Kincaid’s points came in the closing half. She also added two steals.

Pitt came within two points of the lead at the midway point of the first half, after an 8-2 run, but Miami eventually broke away. After a 20-8 run, the Hurricanes closed out the first half with a 38-24 lead.

With a little more than 10 minutes left in the game, Miami extended its lead to 17 points, but was answered with a 12-3 Panthers’ rally that cut the lead down to seven.

This was as close as Pitt would come; the Hurricanes rolled on to remain unbeaten in eight straight games at home. Miami also extended its series success, with four straight victories over the Panthers.

Pitt and Miami were evenly matched in field goal percentage (42 percent) and were comparable from the charity stripe.

The Hurricanes had 21 steals to the Panthers’ eight. However, Miami only finished one-of-10 from behind the arc, compared to Pitt’s 44 percent (four-of-nine).

Freshman guard Brooke Hughes made three of Pitt’s three-pointers, chipping in 12 points and a team-high five assists.

Freshman forward Jennifer Brown led the Panthers off the bench with 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in 29 minutes of work.

Miami’s Shaquana Wilkins led the Hurricanes with a double-double, pulling down a game-high 15 boards and 20 points. Forward Chanivia Broussard and guard Hutashi Wilson each scored in double digits for the Hurricanes.

Pitt will be back in action Wednesday night in Big East Conference play to battle another tough opponent, No. 19 Virginia Tech, at home.