Panthers Second Half Comeback Falls Short At Virginia Tech

Thursday, January 20

Blacksburg, VA

8:00 PM

Pitt

10-8,1-6ACC

Virginia Tech

14-4,6-1ACC

Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech

Panthers Second Half Comeback Falls Short At Virginia Tech

1/20/2022 11:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

BLACKSBURG, VA – The Pitt women's basketball team (10-8, 1-6 ACC) saw their comeback effort fall just short on the road Thursday night as Virginia Tech as they were defeated 75-65. Junior Dayshanette Harris led the way with 22 points while Jayla Everett added 20 in the loss.

Harris once again led the Panthers in scoring as she netted a season-high 22 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists while Everett finished with 20 points and two assists. Harris became the fastest Pitt player in program history (60 games) to record at least 700 points, 250 rebounds and 175 assists.

The Panthers got out to a quick 4-2 lead thanks to a pair of free throws from Everett and a jumper from Harris but the Hokies responded with eight straight points to take the 10-4 lead. Cynthia Ezeja notched a block at one end of the floor and then finished off a layup to cut the Hokies lead to four, 10-6, but once again Virginia Tech responded with three triples to push their lead to 21-8 with three minutes to play in the quarter. The Panthers closed the quarter strong as Harris made a jumper and Destiny Strother knocked down a corner triple to send the game to the second quarter with the Hokies leading 23-15.

After trading some buckets early in the quarter, Everett knocked down her first triple of the game to make the Pitt deficit nine, 30-21, midway through the quarter. Out of the media timeout, the Hokies netted seven straight before Taisha Exanor finished off a floater in the lane for her first bucket of the night to cut the Pitt deficit to 37-23. Harris finished the scoring for Pitt with a pair of free throws and a jumper as Virginia Tech took the 46-27 lead into the locker room.

The Panthers came out of the locker room with some energy as they were able to cut their deficit down to 14, 55-41, at the media timeout. Freshman Maliyah Johnson netted her first triple while Emy Hayford netted her first jumper of the game and Everett finished off a three-point play to get Pitt back into the game. Harris finished off the scoring in the quarter for Pitt with a deep triple as the Panthers outscored Virginia Tech 19-15 in the quarter. The Hokies entered the fourth leading 61-46.

Pitt came out strong in the fourth quarter as Strother netted a triple after a behind the back feed from Harris and then the Panthers point guard netted a jumper of her own to force the Hokies to take a timeout with the score 61-51 in favor of the home team. Harris netted another jumper and Hayford finished off a layup after a turnover to get Pitt within six, 61-55, three minutes into the final frame. The Hokies took the 65-57 lead into the media timeout but the Panthers continued to press as Everett netted a deep triple to bring Pitt within four, 69-65, with 35 seconds to play. Virginia Tech converted all of their free throws down the stretch to earn the 75-65 home victory.

Off the bench, Strother netted six points, two rebounds and a steal while Igbokwe finished off her night with five points, five rebounds and two blocks. Johnson finished her second career start with four points and tied a career-high with five rebounds while Hayford chipped in with four points off the bench.

As a team, the Panthers won the rebounding battle 40-38 while collecting 17 offensive rebounds in the loss. Pitt also won the turnover battle 12-11 while scoring 12 points off of turnovers.
Virginia Tech was led offensively by Elizabeth Kitley who netted 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Georgia Amoore netted 14 points and five assists in the win.

NEXT UP

Pitt returns to the Petersen Events Center Sunday afternoon as they welcome the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for a 2:00 pm tip. Sunday's game will air on ACC Network Extra.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the loss, Pitt falls to 5-13 all-time against the Hokies including losing six straight in the series. Pitt is 1-8 all-time in Blacksburg.
Pitt grabbed 40 rebounds in the loss and have now posted at least 35 rebounds in all 18 games this season, the longest streak to start a season in program history.
Pitt posted seven blocks, their fourth game this season with at least seven blocks.
The Pitt defense held the Hokies to 40.4% shooting in the game as they have held all 18 opponents this year to under 45% shooting.

Dayshanette Harris

Harris finished off her night with a season-high 22 points, five rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes of work.
She went 9-of-22 from the floor, 1-of-3 from deep and 3-of-6 from the free throw line in the loss.
The 22-point effort gives her nine career games with 20+ points and her first this season.
Harris now has 11 multi-assist games this season.
She now has seven double digit scoring games on the season including in four straight. She now has 34 career games scoring in double figures.
She led Pitt in scoring for the sixth time this season and 24^th time in her collegiate career.
The 32 minutes are a tied for a season-high. The junior has now played 20+ minutes 11 times and 30+ minutes four times including in three straight.

Jayla Everett

Everett finished off her night with 20 points, two assists, one steal and one rebound in 27 minutes of work.
She finished her night going 7-of-20 from the floor, 2-of-7 from deep and 4-of-5 from the free throw line in the loss.
The 20-point effort gives her three on the year and 10 in her Pitt career. She has a total of 17 games with 20+ points in her collegiate career.
She knocked down multiple three-pointers for the eighth time this season and for the 24^th time in her 33 career games as a Panther.
She has now played 20+ minutes in 12 games this season.