Pitt
(9-12, 1-7ACC)
Duke
(16-6, 5-3ACC)
Pitt Sustains 70-48 Loss to Duke
1/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BOX SCORE | SEASON STATISTICS | McCONNELL-SERIO INTERVIEW | HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY 
PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team suffered a 70-48 loss to Duke University on Thursday night at the Petersen Events Center.
Freshman Brenna Wise scored a career-high 17 points and added 11 rebounds for her fourth career double-double, but Duke (16-6, 5-3 ACC) bothered the Panthers (9-12, 1-7 ACC) with its length and made Pitt primarily a jump shooting team the entire night.
Ten of Pitt's 17 made field goals were 3-pointers, but the Blue Devils outscored Pitt 36-4 in the paint. Reigning National Player of the Week Azura Stevens led the charge for Duke, scoring 26 points with nine rebound and three steals, while Rebecca Greenwell added 22 points for the Blue Devils.
"We knew it was going to be a challenge against Duke's defense with all their length," head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio said. "I think we did a good job of moving the ball in the first half which resulted in open shots, but got away from that in the second half. Brenna Wise played so hard tonight and you can see her getting better every time she steps on the court."
In a first quarter that featured eight lead changes, the Blue Devils led 19-18 after the opening 10 minutes of action. Each team shot the ball efficiently as Pitt made 7-of-11 from the floor (63.6 percent), while Duke was 8-of-14 (57.1).
After Aysia Bugg hit a 3-pointer to move Pitt back in front 25-24 with 6:11 remaining in the half, the Blue Devils ended the second quarter on a 10-1 run. Stevens scored eight of Duke's 10 points during that stretch to help the Blue Devils lead 34-26 at the break.
Stevens had 16 points at the intermission to lead all scorers, while Fred Potvin and Wise each had nine to pace the Panthers.
Wise scored the first five points for the Panthers to start the second half and got Pitt within five (36-31), but Duke pulled away with a 14-0 run which increased the Blue Devils' lead to 50-31 with 4:09 left in the third.
The Panthers would connect on back-to-back 3-pointers which cut the lead to 13, but Duke scored the next 10 to give them a 23-point advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Duke Ultimately shot 51.9 percent for the game and made eight of their 15 3-point attempts. Pitt made a season-high 10 triples on 30 attempts.
The Panthers hit the road for a Sunday afternoon showdown with Clemson in South Carolina. Tip is set for 2 p.m.
