Pitt
Rutgers
Panthers Survive Scarlet Knights in OT, 61-53
2/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2009
Box Score
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CBS College Sports Highlights
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Sophronia Sallard scored a career-high 20 points and Shayla Scott hit consecutive 3-pointers in overtime to help No. 19 Pittsburgh beat Rutgers 61-53 on Tuesday night, ending a 13-game losing streak to its Big East rival.
Scott finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Shavonte Zellous added 15 points for Pitt (18-4, 8-2), which has won seven straight.
Epiphanny Prince scored 21 points for Rutgers (13-9, 5-6), which hadn't lost to Pitt in 11 years.
With the game tied at 49 in overtime, Scott hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Pitt a three-point advantage. Prince made a layup to cut the deficit to one before Scott hit another 3-pointer from the corner with 1:16 left to make it a four-point game.
Prince missed a 3-pointer in the corner and Sallard hit two free throws to seal the victory.
Rutgers held a 41-33 lead with 8:35 left in regulation before Pittsburgh went on a 10-2 run to tie it at 43. Sallard and Scott scored eight of the 10 points during the spurt.
Kia Vaughn gave Rutgers a 45-43 lead with a turnaround jumper and the Scarlet Knights could've extended the advantage to four, but Brittany Ray missed a layup on the next possession.
Sallard hit a jumper to tie it at 45 on the next possession.
Prince missed a floater in the lane with 35 seconds to go and on the ensuing rebound Nikki Speed threw the ball away giving Pittsburgh one last chance to win in regulation.
Sallard missed a 15-footer and Scott's follow was blocked out of bounds with 2.3 seconds left.
Zellous caught the ball in the corner off the inbounds, but her jumper bounced off the rim as time expired sending the game to overtime.
Vaughn added 11 points and eight rebounds for Rutgers, which played Tuesday night's game in honor of breast cancer awareness and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. The Scarlet Knights wore pink warmup shirts and shoelaces while the officials used pink whistles. Rutgers plans to wear pink uniforms Sunday when they play at No. 11 Maryland.
Pitt heads up to Connecticut to play the top-ranked Huskies on Sunday.
Zellous, who came in leading the Big East with 24 points a game, was just 5-for-16 shooting. She became the third Pitt women's basketball player to score 2,000 points when she had 29 points in the Panthers' 82-70 victory over Notre Dame on Feb. 3.
Pitt was averaging 79 points before scoring a season-low against Rutgers. The Panthers struggled to get points against the Scarlet Knights, settling for jumpers.
The Panthers, who averaged 21 free-throw attempts a game didn't take their first until Zellous was fouled on the fastbreak nearly 2 minutes into overtime.
Her free throws gave Pitt a 49-48 advantage before Rashidat Junaid tied it making one of two foul shots.
