Tuesday, January 11
Pittsburgh, Pa.
6:00 PM
Pitt
9-6,0-4ACC
52
vs
63
Georgia Tech
12-3,3-1ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Georgia Tech
20
15
21
7
63
Pittsburgh
6
15
7
24
52
Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics
Panthers Finish Strong But Fall At Home To #15 Georgia Tech, 63-52
1/11/2022 9:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – Despite outscoring Georgia Tech 24-7 over the final 10 minutes, the Pitt women's basketball team (9-6, 0-4 ACC) fell on Tuesday night inside the Petersen Events Center to the #15 Yellow Jackets, 63-52. Georgia Tech moves to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in ACC play with the road victory.
"Georgia Tech is one of the best defensive teams I've seen in a long time in our conference," stated head coach Lance White. "They just make you take hard shots and we knew that and knew we had to come into this game with a mindset of limiting them as much as we could. They made some shots early that put us in a hole right away. We're still learning and growing and trying to figure out our exact identity. I don't want it to take from we have all the pieces and we can't let these four games define us. It's about what we do from this point forward. We have to go make some plays and there is a lot of ACC basketball left."
The Panthers showed some fight down the stretch of the game as they trailed by as many as 29 late in the third quarter. Across the final 11 minutes of the game, Pitt outscored the stingy Yellow Jackets by 18 to finish off the loss with some positive signs and momentum heading into Thursday night's home game against Boston College.
Dayshanette Harris finished off her night leading the Panthers in scoring as she netted 14 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 23 minutes of work. She finished the game going 4-for-8 from the floor and 6-for-8 from the charity stripe in the loss. Amber Brown chipped in with nine points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists while Destiny Strother came off the bench and netted 11 points and four rebounds (all offensive).
Harris opened the scoring on Tuesday with a pair of free throws but the Georgia Tech defense clamped down and held Pitt scoreless over the next four minutes as the visitors took the 10-2 lead into the first media timeout of the game. Brown and Strother closed out the scoring in the first for Pitt with a pair of free throws as the Yellow Jackets took the 20-6 lead into the second quarter.
The Yellow Jackets opened the second quarter with the first six points before Harris was able to net a pair of free throws and a jumper to send the game to the media timeout with Pitt trailing 30-10. Out of the media timeout, Harris continued to score as she netted a pair of jumpers while Taisha Exanor, Cynthia Ezeja and Brown each finished off layups for the Panthers. Pitt ended the first half on a 9-2 run to cut into the Yellow Jackets lead as the teams went to the locker room with Georgia Tech leading 35-21.
The Yellow Jackets came out strong in the third quarter as they went on a 9-2 to start play before Sandrine Clesca knocked down a deep jumper to cut the Georgia Tech lead to 44-25 four minutes into the second half. The Yellow Jackets defense locked down on the Panthers across the final six minutes as they outscored Pitt 12-3 to send the game to the fourth with the visitors leading 56-28.
Pitt didn't go away in the fourth quarter as they opened the final frame on an 11-0 run to cut their deficit to 17, 56-39. Brown and Rita Igbokwe opened the scoring with layups before Maliyah Johnson came off the bench and netted the first two three-pointers of her Pitt career in consecutive possessions. After a pair of Georgia Tech free throws, Strother got hot from behind the arc as she netted three triples over the final three minutes as Pitt fell at home to the best defensive team in the nation, 63-52.
Ezeja made a strong impact off the Pitt bench Tuesday as she finished with four points, six rebounds and a steal in a season-high 21 minutes of work. Five of her six rebounds came on the offensive glass for the Panthers. Johnson also came off the bench and had a career night for Pitt as she netted a career-high six points, three rebounds and an assist while going 2-for-3 from behind the arc in 11 minutes of work.
As a team, the Panthers outrebounded one of the most physical teams in the nation 35-30 including a 14-10 edge on the offensive glass. Pitt finished the game shooting 38.5% from the floor, the second best field goal percentage Georgia Tech has allowed this season (Auburn, 40.7%). Pitt also shot 38.5% from behind the arc in the loss, the highest three-point field goal percentage allowed by GT this season (minimum 10 attempts). The Pitt bench also outscored the Yellow Jackets 29-6 in the loss.
The Yellow Jackets were led offensively by the duo of Lotta-Maj Lahtinen who netted 17 points, two assists and two steals and Digna Strautmane who finished with 16 points and three assists on 4-for-6 from deep.
NEXT UP
Team
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"Georgia Tech is one of the best defensive teams I've seen in a long time in our conference," stated head coach Lance White. "They just make you take hard shots and we knew that and knew we had to come into this game with a mindset of limiting them as much as we could. They made some shots early that put us in a hole right away. We're still learning and growing and trying to figure out our exact identity. I don't want it to take from we have all the pieces and we can't let these four games define us. It's about what we do from this point forward. We have to go make some plays and there is a lot of ACC basketball left."
The Panthers showed some fight down the stretch of the game as they trailed by as many as 29 late in the third quarter. Across the final 11 minutes of the game, Pitt outscored the stingy Yellow Jackets by 18 to finish off the loss with some positive signs and momentum heading into Thursday night's home game against Boston College.
Dayshanette Harris finished off her night leading the Panthers in scoring as she netted 14 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 23 minutes of work. She finished the game going 4-for-8 from the floor and 6-for-8 from the charity stripe in the loss. Amber Brown chipped in with nine points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists while Destiny Strother came off the bench and netted 11 points and four rebounds (all offensive).
Harris opened the scoring on Tuesday with a pair of free throws but the Georgia Tech defense clamped down and held Pitt scoreless over the next four minutes as the visitors took the 10-2 lead into the first media timeout of the game. Brown and Strother closed out the scoring in the first for Pitt with a pair of free throws as the Yellow Jackets took the 20-6 lead into the second quarter.
The Yellow Jackets opened the second quarter with the first six points before Harris was able to net a pair of free throws and a jumper to send the game to the media timeout with Pitt trailing 30-10. Out of the media timeout, Harris continued to score as she netted a pair of jumpers while Taisha Exanor, Cynthia Ezeja and Brown each finished off layups for the Panthers. Pitt ended the first half on a 9-2 run to cut into the Yellow Jackets lead as the teams went to the locker room with Georgia Tech leading 35-21.
The Yellow Jackets came out strong in the third quarter as they went on a 9-2 to start play before Sandrine Clesca knocked down a deep jumper to cut the Georgia Tech lead to 44-25 four minutes into the second half. The Yellow Jackets defense locked down on the Panthers across the final six minutes as they outscored Pitt 12-3 to send the game to the fourth with the visitors leading 56-28.
Pitt didn't go away in the fourth quarter as they opened the final frame on an 11-0 run to cut their deficit to 17, 56-39. Brown and Rita Igbokwe opened the scoring with layups before Maliyah Johnson came off the bench and netted the first two three-pointers of her Pitt career in consecutive possessions. After a pair of Georgia Tech free throws, Strother got hot from behind the arc as she netted three triples over the final three minutes as Pitt fell at home to the best defensive team in the nation, 63-52.
Ezeja made a strong impact off the Pitt bench Tuesday as she finished with four points, six rebounds and a steal in a season-high 21 minutes of work. Five of her six rebounds came on the offensive glass for the Panthers. Johnson also came off the bench and had a career night for Pitt as she netted a career-high six points, three rebounds and an assist while going 2-for-3 from behind the arc in 11 minutes of work.
As a team, the Panthers outrebounded one of the most physical teams in the nation 35-30 including a 14-10 edge on the offensive glass. Pitt finished the game shooting 38.5% from the floor, the second best field goal percentage Georgia Tech has allowed this season (Auburn, 40.7%). Pitt also shot 38.5% from behind the arc in the loss, the highest three-point field goal percentage allowed by GT this season (minimum 10 attempts). The Pitt bench also outscored the Yellow Jackets 29-6 in the loss.
The Yellow Jackets were led offensively by the duo of Lotta-Maj Lahtinen who netted 17 points, two assists and two steals and Digna Strautmane who finished with 16 points and three assists on 4-for-6 from deep.
NEXT UP
- The Panthers return home Thursday night as they welcome the Boston College Eagles to the Petersen Events Center for a 6:00 pm tip on ACC Network Extra.
Team
- With the loss, Pitt falls to 3-8 all-time against Georgia Tech including five straight losses in the series.
- All four of Pitt's ACC losses have been to nationally-ranked opponents, marking the first time in program history the Panthers opened conference play against four nationally-ranked teams.
- The 52 points scored by Pitt Tuesday night marked the most points allowed by Georgia Tech since Dec. 5 when they allowed 54 points to #20 Georgia.
- Pitt had nine players who grabbed at least two rebounds while eight players netted at least two points in the loss.
- Pitt outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 35-30, marking their biggest deficit in rebounding this season. Prior to tonight, Georgia Tech was outrebounded just once through 14 games (Louisville, 36-34).
- Harris finished off her night with a team-high 14 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 23 minutes of work.
- She went 4-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe in the loss.
- The 14-point effort marked her fourth double digit scoring game of the season and the 31st of her Pitt career.
- She led Pitt in scoring for the third time this season and 21st time in her collegiate career.
- The junior has now played 20+ minutes eight times this season including in four straight contests.
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Team Stats
GaTech
Pitt
FG%
.412
.385
3FG%
.429
.385
FT%
.857
.500
RB
30
35
TO
14
17
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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