Sunday, December 19
South Bend, Ind.
2:00 PM
Pitt
8-4,0-2ACC
59
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85
Notre Dame
10-2,2-0ACC
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Pittsburgh
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Notre Dame
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Pitt Drops Road Contest To #21 Notre Dame Sunday
12/19/2021 4:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SOUTH BEND, IN – The Pitt women's basketball team (8-4, 0-2 ACC) dropped their first road ACC contest on Sunday afternoon at the Purcell Pavilion to No. 21 Notre Dame, 85-59. With the win, Notre Dame improved to 10-2 overall and 2-0 in ACC play.
The difference in the game was turnovers on Sunday as the Panthers turned it over 27 times which led to 33 Notre Dame points. The Irish turned the ball over 12 times and Pitt scored six points off those chances.
The Fighting Irish opened the game on a 10-0 run that forced Pitt into taking a timeout before Liatu King got the scoring started with a layup after a great feed from Emy Hayford. Notre Dame extended their lead out to 15-4 after a triple but the Panthers were able to end the first quarter on a 6-2 run as Taisha Exanor made a pair of layups and Dayshanette Harris finished off a coast-to-coast layup to make it 17-10 in favor of the Irish.
Pitt opened the second quarter with five straight points as Exanor finished off a layup after a great feed by Jayla Everett and then Harris knocked down a triple after another great feed by Everett to make the score 17-15 in favor of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish responded with a 15-2 run to push their lead out to 32-17 midway through the quarter. Pitt got within 11, 32-21, with three minutes to go as Hayford finished off a layup but the Irish closed the quarter with a buzzer-beating triple to take the 42-24 lead into the locker room. Notre Dame finished the first half connecting on eight three-pointers while shooting 47.1% from deep.
Everett provided the Panthers with some offensive punch early in the third quarter as she was able to drain a trio of triples to get Pitt back within 13, 52-39, with six minutes to play in the quarter. After the media timeout, the Irish were able to put the game away as they went on a 14-0 run to push their lead out to 27, 66-39. Amber Brown scored the final four points in the quarter for the Panthers as they entered the fourth trailing 73-43.
Seeing action in just her second game of the season, Cynthia Ezeja finished off a layup to open the scoring in the fourth quarter. The Irish pushed their lead out to 82-49 after a triple before King netted back-to-back layups to cut into the deficit. Hayford finished off the scoring in the game for Pitt as the Irish took the 85-59 home victory.
Everett led the Panthers with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal on three triples while Brown finished off her game with 10 points and four rebounds in 17 minutes of work. King finished her game with 10 points, four rebounds and four steals while Exanor came off the bench and netted 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the loss. Harris had seven points, six assists and four rebounds in her first start of the season.
As a team, Pitt shot 43.9% from the floor while holding the Irish to 40% shooting. Notre Dame connected on 11 three-pointers while Pitt was held to just five in the loss. The Irish held the 41-40 edge in rebounds while the Panthers held the 34-28 edge in paint scoring.
Notre Dame was led offensively by Olivia Miles who netted 21 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and six steals while Sonia Citron finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals off the bench.
NEXT UP
Team
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The difference in the game was turnovers on Sunday as the Panthers turned it over 27 times which led to 33 Notre Dame points. The Irish turned the ball over 12 times and Pitt scored six points off those chances.
The Fighting Irish opened the game on a 10-0 run that forced Pitt into taking a timeout before Liatu King got the scoring started with a layup after a great feed from Emy Hayford. Notre Dame extended their lead out to 15-4 after a triple but the Panthers were able to end the first quarter on a 6-2 run as Taisha Exanor made a pair of layups and Dayshanette Harris finished off a coast-to-coast layup to make it 17-10 in favor of the Irish.
Pitt opened the second quarter with five straight points as Exanor finished off a layup after a great feed by Jayla Everett and then Harris knocked down a triple after another great feed by Everett to make the score 17-15 in favor of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish responded with a 15-2 run to push their lead out to 32-17 midway through the quarter. Pitt got within 11, 32-21, with three minutes to go as Hayford finished off a layup but the Irish closed the quarter with a buzzer-beating triple to take the 42-24 lead into the locker room. Notre Dame finished the first half connecting on eight three-pointers while shooting 47.1% from deep.
Everett provided the Panthers with some offensive punch early in the third quarter as she was able to drain a trio of triples to get Pitt back within 13, 52-39, with six minutes to play in the quarter. After the media timeout, the Irish were able to put the game away as they went on a 14-0 run to push their lead out to 27, 66-39. Amber Brown scored the final four points in the quarter for the Panthers as they entered the fourth trailing 73-43.
Seeing action in just her second game of the season, Cynthia Ezeja finished off a layup to open the scoring in the fourth quarter. The Irish pushed their lead out to 82-49 after a triple before King netted back-to-back layups to cut into the deficit. Hayford finished off the scoring in the game for Pitt as the Irish took the 85-59 home victory.
Everett led the Panthers with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal on three triples while Brown finished off her game with 10 points and four rebounds in 17 minutes of work. King finished her game with 10 points, four rebounds and four steals while Exanor came off the bench and netted 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the loss. Harris had seven points, six assists and four rebounds in her first start of the season.
As a team, Pitt shot 43.9% from the floor while holding the Irish to 40% shooting. Notre Dame connected on 11 three-pointers while Pitt was held to just five in the loss. The Irish held the 41-40 edge in rebounds while the Panthers held the 34-28 edge in paint scoring.
Notre Dame was led offensively by Olivia Miles who netted 21 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and six steals while Sonia Citron finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals off the bench.
NEXT UP
- Pitt returns to action Wednesday, Dec. 22 as they welcome Holy Cross to the Petersen Events Center for their final non-conference game of the season. Wednesday's game will tip at 12:00 pm at the Pete.
Team
- With the loss, Pitt falls to 4-31 all-time against the Fighting Irish including a 0-15 mark in games played in South Bend.
- Exanor finished off her game with 10 points, eight rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 23 minutes of work.
- She finished the game going 5-of-7 from the floor in the loss.
- Her eight rebounds marked a team-high while she has now grabbed at least five rebounds in five games this season.
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Team Stats
Pitt
ND
FG%
.439
.400
3FG%
.250
.393
FT%
.500
.700
RB
40
41
TO
27
12
STL
7
17
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
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