Pitt women’s basketball entered Friday night’s home game against No. 2 NC State riding its best start since 2009. But a blowout loss proved that the Panthers — despite their improvements — are still a long way from competing with the elite.

This season was a tale of two schedules for Pitt women’s basketball. The young roster had to contend with COVID-19 and its own inexperience, all of which yielded a 5-14 record, and a 3-12 conference record.

Pitt women’s basketball (4-9, 2-8 ACC) continued its recent cold-streak futility with its fifth loss in a row, this time against North Carolina (10-8, 5-8 ACC) with a score of 81-72. This comes on the heels of a matchup where Pitt surrendered a late lead to Wake Forest and lost in overtime.