Pitt Drops Tough Road Contest at Penn State, 91-62

Saturday, December 10

State College, Pa.

2:00 PM

Pitt

7-3

Penn State

8-2

Pitt

Penn State

Pitt Drops Tough Road Contest at Penn State, 91-62

12/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Dec. 10, 2016

Box Score | Quotes | Final Book

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sophomore Brenna Wise led Pitt women's basketball (7-3, 0-0 ACC) in scoring for the fifth time this season as the Panthers dropped their first road game of the year, 91-62, at Penn State (8-2, 0-0 Big Ten) Saturday afternoon at Bryce Jordan Center.

The Lady Lions remained unbeaten at home, improving to 5-0. It was the Panthers' first journey away from Pittsburgh, as the team played its first nine regular-season games within the friendly confines of Petersen Events Center. Penn State's 91 points are the most allowed by Pitt since a 94-46 loss to No. 10 Maryland Feb. 6, 2014.

Wise posted 15 points, marking her eighth double-figure outing of the year, and her third in a row. She added a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman Jasmine Whitney was the only other double-figure scorer for Pitt with 14 points. She dished out five assists to lead the Panthers.

The Lady Lions scored the first five points of the game unanswered, but then Pitt went on a 10-0 run to move into its largest lead of the game, up 10-5 at 5:45. Penn State tied the game for the second time, 10-10, at 3:58, but an and-one conversion by Aysia Bugg gave the Panthers a 13-10 advantage at 3:21. A 3-pointer by freshman Alayna Gribble tied Pitt's largest lead of five, to go up 16-11 at 1:51. The Panthers couldn't shake the Lady Lions, as they produced another 5-0 run with a minute remaining in the period. Whitney hit a free throw to tie the game for the fourth time, 19-19, to end the quarter.

After Gribble hit her second triple to open the second quarter (22-19), Penn State took off on a 17-0 run lasting from 9:51 to 2:30, to take a 36-24 lead. Overall, PSU outscored the Panthers 25-8 in the quarter and entered the break with a 44-27 advantage. It was the Pitt's first halftime deficit of the season.

Although the Panthers outscored PSU 8-5 in the opening three minutes of the second half, they were unable to sustain momentum as the Lady Lions went on an 8-0 run to make it 57-35 at 4:58. Penn State pushed the lead to 26 at 3:26. Wise and Whitney combined for a 7-0 run for Pitt to close the deficit to 64-35. The Panthers came as close as within 18 points in the quarter, ending the period down 68-50.

Pitt returned it to an 18-point margin with 8:20 remaining in the game following a Kalista Walters jumper. However, that was the closest the Panthers would come to reaching the Lady Lions as PSU took off on a 15-4 run to take a largest lead of 29, up 87-58, with 2:46 to go. Penn State tied that lead to seal the final score, 91-62.

Penn State out-shot Pitt, 47.1 percent to 42.6 percent, and had a hefty advantage on the boards (47-29). The Lady Lions went 18-of-25 (72.0 percent) from the free throw line as the Panthers went made two of only three attempts (66.7 percent).

THE SERIES

The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series, 28-13, and are 18-1 against Pitt when playing in University Park. The Panthers' lone road win came in Year 1 A.S. (After Suzie) on Nov. 30, 1988, at Rec Hall (74-70). The teams played annually from 1974 to 2009, only missing the 1991-92 season.
Pitt has never won at Bryce Jordan Center, at 0-9 since the arena opened in 1995. The Panthers' last win in the series came Nov. 24, 2008, at Petersen Events Center when senior Xenia Stewart scored her 1,000th career point in Pitt's largest margin of victory over Penn State in school history, 80-59.

EXPERIENCE THE ACTION

All individual tickets for Pitt women's basketball are general admission and available for purchase for $5 each by calling the Panthers Ticket Office at 800-643-7488 or by visiting PittsburghPanthers.com. Group tickets and season tickets are also on sale.

UP NEXT

Pitt will take eight days off before traveling to Niceville, Fla., for the Patrick Harrington Tournament Dec. 19-20. The Panthers will face UTEP and McNeese State, respectively.

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