Pitt women fall to Huskies in front of record crowd

In front of a standing room only crowd, the Pitt women’s basketball team took to the floor in… In front of a standing room only crowd, the Pitt women’s basketball team took to the floor in hopes of shocking the college basketball world.

However, despite the 12,632 record attendance, the Panthers became Connecticut’s 57th consecutive victim, 76-55.

The loss drops the Panthers to 9-8 overall and 1-5 in the Big East. The Huskies, who are now 18-0 and 6-0 in the Big East, put on a clinic for the crowd.

From the tip, the Huskies controlled the game, grabbing the quick 2-0 lead as Diana Taurasi dished to a wide-open Morgan Valley for an easy layup. Pitt would answer back as Laine Selwyn would find an opening in the lane for a running jumper in the lane, knotting the score at two apiece.

On their next possession, the Huskies wasted little time in finding the open shot as guard Ann Strother kicked the ball out to Maria Conlon for an open three-point basket giving the Huskies the lead for good.

The nerves of the Panthers showed throughout the first half, as Pitt rushed its offense and its passes that led to nine first-half turnovers. UConn capitalized on Pitt’s early errors and converted them into 11 first-half points, while the Panthers could only net two points as a result of 10 UConn turnovers.

Taurasi helped the Huskies jump out to a quick lead as she scored 12 first-half points to go with her seven rebounds and four assists. As the midway point of the first half rolled around, the Huskies led, 28-10.

“It was tough to guard their four guards,” head coach Traci Waites said. “Early on we couldn’t knock down our shots and that was definitely hurting our confidence.”

At the half, UConn held a 19-point lead over the Panthers at 39-20.

For the first half, Pitt struggled in every category except from the free-throw line. Pitt was shooting a dismal 28 percent from the floor and 11.1 percent from behind the three-point line. The No. 1 defense of the Huskies was doing its job, keeping Pitt off balance.

Pitt had only one offensive rebound for the entire first half while the Huskies crashed the boards pulling down 13 offensive rebounds to go with their 19 defensive boards.

“We weren’t putting bodies on them,” Waites said.

As the second half got under way, the Panthers calmed down and slowly began to find their game.

Taurasi was held to just two points for the half and essentially was silenced as she only grabbed a pair of assists and rebounds for the rest of the game.

The Panthers matched the Huskies in the second half, converting on more points underneath the basket (17-16), more fast break points (9-4) and converted eight UConn turnovers into nine points.

While the Panthers improved on both ends of the court, UConn’s rebounding proved to be the biggest factor in the game as the Huskies outrebounded the Panthers, 56-21.

“It was frustrating,” Selwyn said. “We didn’t do what we had worked on in practice.”

For Pitt, the night had a silver lining. The crowd that showed up stayed for the entire game and continued to support Pitt despite the score.

“It was great to see the fans, and I really appreciated how they stayed and supported us tonight,” Waites said. “I just wish we could have given them a better basketball