Panthers come up short against Friars

Despite a late game rally by the Pitt women’s basketball team, the Panthers fell to… Despite a late game rally by the Pitt women’s basketball team, the Panthers fell to Providence, 80-77, Saturday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center. The loss, which was their first at home, drops the Panthers to 8-5 overall and 0-2 Big East.

Early on, the tempo of the game favored the visiting Friars, as they ran the floor and knocked down a three-point basket to jump out to an early 7-2 lead.

But the Panthers answered back with a 14-3 run to grab a 16-10 lead with 14 minutes and 35 seconds to go in the first half.

During the run, Pitt found wide open looks beyond the three-point line, as 12 of the 14 points came from three-pointers.

But the Friars took control, slowing down the tempo of the game by using a stingy zone defense to deny the Panthers open looks from the outside. Providence took advantage of a 6:22 scoring drought by the Panthers to run the score to 26-16.

As the end of the half drew near, Pitt found itself quietly chipping away at the Friar lead with patient shot selection and good ball movement to the low post.

By the end of the first half, the Friars held a narrow 35-33 lead, despite holding the edge in shooting percentage (44.8 to 36.1), as well as converting six Panther turnovers into 10 points.

The first half saw several uncommon occurrences for the Panthers as the No. 2-ranked foul shooting team in the conference shot a dismal 33.3 percent from the line and sixth ranked three-point shooting team in the nation started hot before cooling off to hit only 35.7 percent from beyond the arc.

“I knew we played awful in the first half,” head coach Traci Waites said. “Our team didn’t play with a sense of urgency from the start today.”

In the second half, the play started out slow with early fouls for both teams.

With 16:44 to go in the game, the Panthers still found themselves trailing by a basket with the score 39-37. But as the clock wound down to the halfway point in the period, Providence used its size and strength to muscle its way to a 12-point advantage with 10:28 to play.

With the Friars seeming to have control of the game, guard Laine Selwyn ignited the Panthers and carried the team as she struck for nine consecutive points to get the Panthers back into the game with 8:51 to go and the Friars leading by five.

“[Laine] has been doing this all year. She’s a leader and a winner,” Waites said of Selwyn’s 16-point, nine assist and four rebound performance.

Providence found its rhythm again, dumping the ball down low to Kacee Wheeler, who punished the Panthers for 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The inside presence of Wheeler and the penetrating ability of guard Michal Epstein led to Panther foul trouble for much of the game. As a result Pitt found itself without the services of forwards Mandy Wittenmyer and Latoya Kincaid with 3:52 remaining.

Despite playing without its most experienced front court players, Pitt charged back from nine points down with the clutch shooting of guards Amy Kunich, Jessica Allen and Haley Harguth.

Harguth got the Panther comeback started by nailing a pair of free throws at the 1:58 mark.

Then, Kunich took the ball to the basket where she got the layup to fall, as she was fouled just 11 seconds later. Kunich converted on the free throw attempt to pull the Panthers within four with 1:47 to go.

Following a fast break layin by the Friars, Wheeler fouled out with just 1:04 to go. In the next 20 seconds of the game, the Panthers would use fouls to stop the clock and slow the Friars’ offense down. With the Friars making only three of six foul shots, Pitt was still in the game with 42 seconds to go.

Allen found her spot behind the three-point line and dropped it in with confidence as the Panthers closed in yet again at 76-72.

Pitt then fouled Providence guard Kristi Quinn, who converted on all six of her free-throw attempts down the stretch. Following the free throws by Quinn, Selwyn managed the Panthers down the floor and dished to an open Harguth, who then drilled an open three-pointer getting Pitt within three.

After an arrant inbound pass by Providence, Pitt had possession underneath the Friars’ basket.

Allen took the ball and drove the lane for a tough layup, slicing the lead to just one point at 78-77 with 11 seconds to go.

On the inbound pass the Friars would lose the ball at half court and Pitt would dive for the loose ball, but were unable to recover it and as a result, the Panthers were forced to foul with just five seconds to go.

“Our team really wants to win, but we should have been doing those things before and not have waited until the end of the game,” Waites said. “When you’re off that long it’s hard to simulate game situations and I think that really hurt us today.”

The Panthers will return to action Wednesday as they travel to Virginia Tech to take on the Hokies in another Big East Conference game.