Panthers lose sixth straight ACC game at Boston College

Conference play has not been kind to the Pitt women’s basketball team.

In a battle of winless ACC teams, Pitt (8-11, 0-6 ACC) couldn’t close the door against the Boston College Eagles (13-5, 1-4 ACC) during its game Thursday at the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, falling 54-43.

From the tip-off, the Panthers struggled to open the game, as Boston College dominated in the outset. The Eagles knocked down five of their first six shots, forcing a Pitt timeout as the Panthers trailed 10-0 with 7:51 remaining in the first quarter.

The timeout gave the Panthers a bit of a burst. Shortly after play restarted, Pitt forward Stasha Carey took control. Carey, who tallied the Panthers’ first points with a layup, added five more first-quarter baskets, including two from behind the arc as she contributed 14 of Pitt’s 17 first-quarter points.

Her 14 points were a part of a 17-7 Panther run that forced a 17-17 tie at the end of the first quarter, as the Panthers held the Eagles scoreless over the quarter’s final three minutes.

The intermission didn’t slow Carey at all, who came out firing again in the second quarter, connecting on an early layup to give the Panthers their first lead of the game. She then added a 3-point basket on the next possession before eventually missing after connecting on her first eight shots from the field.

With Carey doing most of the heavy lifting offensively, the Panthers held a 30-27 lead going into halftime as freshman guard Cassidy Walsh pitched in with a pair of 3-pointers of her own.

In the second half, remaining in front of Boston College proved futile for Pitt.

The two teams traded baskets for the first six minutes of the third quarter, but the Panthers couldn’t increase their lead. The Boston College defense held Pitt to just 2-9 shooting through the first seven minutes, including a scoreless drought that extended for more than three and a half minutes.

The drought finally ended with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter as Carey poured in her 11th successful field goal of the game, extending the Pitt lead to 40-37. The Panthers’ lead wouldn’t last, though, as Boston College guard Kelly Hughes knocked down a 3-point jumper with just seconds remaining in the third quarter, knotting the score at 40-40.

Despite leading for nearly the entire second and third periods, when the fourth period started, the Panthers simply ran out of gas.

Boston College hit an early 3-point jumper from Hughes that sparked a 10-point Eagle run that spanned the first five and a half minutes of the fourth quarter.

Pitt pulled within eight points on a basket by Aysia Bugg, but couldn’t get any closer in the final four minutes.

Carey led the team in scoring, as she poured in a career-high 26 points with 13 rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots. Freshman Brenna Wise and Walsh each added six points of their own.

The loss increased Pitt’s losing streak to seven games, which includes all six of the team’s conference games so far.

The Panthers will play again Sunday in Charlottesville, Virginia, when they take on the Virginia Cavaliers (13-6, 3-2 ACC) at 1 p.m.