Women’s Basketball: Season ends with loss to Wake Forest in ACC Tournament

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Pitt women’s basketball couldn’t keep up with Wake Forest Wednesday night, as the Demon Deacons pulled away in the second half to end the Panthers’ season with a 72-58 victory.

The Panthers (11-20, 3-14 ACC) trailed by just six at halftime and closed the gap to four points with a a layup by Brianna Kiesel and another from Ashlee Anderson made the score 38-34. 

But Pitt never came any closer as Wake Forest used a 12-0 run to open up a 16-point lead that put the Demon Deacons comfortably ahead for the rest of the game. 

Asia Logan posted a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Panthers, while Kiesel finished with 12 points. But they were out-done by Wake Forests’s pair of 20-point scorers.

Dearica Hamby led Wake Forest with a double-double of 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting and 16 rebounds. The forward nearly posted a triple-double with eight assists. 

Guard Chelsea Douglas supported her teammate with another 20 points which included four 3-pointers. 

Hamby’s interior presence helped Wake Forest dominate the glass with a 45-31 rebounding advantage. 

Defensively, the Demon Deacons limited Pitt to just 35 percent shooting on 21-of-60 shot attempts. The Panthers couldn’t stop Wake Forest on the other end as their opposition finished with a 47 percent clip from the field on 27-of-57 shooting.

Pitt’s loss in the first round of a conference tournament marks the third year in a row that the Panthers failed to advance beyond their first game.