Pitt
USF
Pittsburgh Women's Basketball Rallies to Beat USF, 70-66
2/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2011
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
PITTSBURGH - Senior Taneisha Harrison (Bowie, Md.) led four players in double figures to lift the University of Pittsburgh to a 70-66 win over the University of South Florida in BIG EAST women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center.
Harrison exploded for 27 points and five assists, while senior Jania Sims (Newark, N.J.) had 15. Senior Chelsea Cole (Lumberton, N.J.) racked up her league-leading 13th double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high 17 rebounds.
Redshirt freshman Ashlee Anderson (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 10 points for the Panthers (12-12, 4-7 BIG EAST).
Four players scored in double-figures for the Bulls (10-15, 1-10) paced by junior Andrell Smith with 16 points.
The Panthers pulled out to a four-point lead (11-7) to start the contest following a three-pointer from Harrison at the 15:25 mark. USF responded with a 7-2 rally to take its first lead of the game at 14-13 on a trey by Smith with 14:12 left in the first.
The Bulls scored 12 of the game's next 19 points to move to a seven-point advantage (28-21) following a pair of conversions from the free throw line with just over four minutes to go in the first period.
The Panthers used a 10-2 run to take the lead at 31-30 just prior to the half. Harrison had six points over that three-minute surge. Akila McDonald connected on two fouls shots with six seconds to go in the first period, however, to give the Bulls a 32-31 lead at intermission.
Pitt went up by one to start the second half on two from the stripe from Sims (33-32), but USF answered by piecing together a 16-4 scoring run to take its largest advantage of the game and go ahead 48-37 with 14:28 remaining.
The Panthers tallied eight-consecutive points, capped by five-straight from Harrison to cut the deficit to three (48-45) with 11:17 on the clock. Pitt closed to a point twice over the next couple of minutes before taking its first lead since the early moments of the second half on a three-point play by Sims to make it 54-52 Panthers with 8:30 to go.
Twice over the next three and a half minutes, USF built its lead to three points - lastly at the 5:00 mark on another trip to the free throw line. Pitt countered to turn the tables and take its own three-point lead with 2:44 showing following two from the stripe from Anderson. USF did not go away quietly, draining its seventh three-pointer of the game on the next possession. That would be just one of two field goals the squad would score over the final 2:25.
Tied at 62-62, the Panthers got consecutive baskets from Sims and Cole to stretch its lead to four. Pitt shot 3-of-4 from the free throw line over the final 11 seconds to seal the victory.
Pitt shot 57.1 percent from the field for the contest, including a 60 percent mark in the second half. USF was at a 33.3 percent clip for the contest, but shot 41.2 percent from behind the arc.
