Florida State Sneaks Past Pitt On Senior Day At The Pete, 57-52

Sunday, February 27

Pittsburgh, Pa.

2:00 PM

Pitt

11-18,2-16ACC

Florida State

16-12,10-8ACC

Florida St.

Pittsburgh

Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics

Florida State Sneaks Past Pitt On Senior Day At The Pete, 57-52

2/27/2022 5:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team (11-18, 2-16 ACC) fell on Senior Day at the Petersen Events Center to the Florida State Seminoles by the score of 57-52. Pitt closes out their 2021-22 regular season with a 7-7 home record.

With the loss, Pitt will be the No. 15 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Greensboro, NC. The Panthers will play the No. 10 seed Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday, Mar. 2 at 3:30 pm on RSN (Regional Sport Network).

Junior Amber Brown led the Panthers in scoring as she netted 14 points on 6-for-8 from the floor in the loss. Brown also grabbed 10 rebounds (five offensive) to post her eighth career double-double while she also added three assists. Liatu King had another strong game as she finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes of work. Rita Igbokwe finished off her afternoon with six points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in 28 minutes of action.

The Seminoles got out to a quick 5-0 lead before Brown was able to get the Panthers on the board with a fast break layup after a great feed from Dayshanette Harris. Florida State extended their lead to 12-2 after the media timeout but the Panthers responded with a 5-1 run to close out the quarter as Sandrine Clesca finished off a three-point play to make it 13-7 in favor of the Seminoles through 10 minutes.

Pitt opened the second quarter quick as Clesca knocked down a jumper and Taisha Exanor came off the bench and finished a layup to force Florida State into a timeout with the score 15-13 in favor of the Seminoles just three minutes into the quarter. King took over down the stretch for the Panthers as she netted six points in the final four minutes to send the game to halftime with the Panthers trailing by seven, 28-21.

After a Florida State bucket opened the scoring in the third, the Panthers bounced back quick as they went on an 8-0 run thanks to a pair of layups by Brown, a jumper by King and a hook shot in the lane from Igbokwe to make it 30-29 in favor of the visitors. Out of the media timeout, Pitt was able to get within four, 39-35, as King netted a jumper from just outside the paint but the Seminoles ended the quarter with five straight including a jumper at the buzzer to take the 44-35 lead into the final quarter.

Pitt came out flying in the fourth quarter as they netted the first six points of the quarter to force Florida State into a timeout, trailing by only three, 44-41. Exanor capped the run with a fast break layup after a great feed by Brown who chased down a long rebound into the front court. Out of the timeout, the Seminoles were able to create some breathing room as they knocked down back-to-back triples but the Panthers didn't go away as King made a layup and Destiny Strother netted a free throw to bring Pitt within two, 50-48, with two minutes to play in the game. Pitt went cold from the floor over the final two minutes and the Seminoles hit their free throws to secure the 57-52 road victory.

Clesca had another strong game in her second straight start as she finished with seven points and four assists in a career-high 35 minutes of work. Exanor finished her game off the bench with eight points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in the loss.

As a team, Pitt won the rebounding battle 45-31 including a 15-9 lead in offensive rebounds. Pitt scored 10 second chance points while also winning the battle in the paint 36-24 in the loss. The Panthers shot 40.7% from the floor while they held the Seminoles to just 35.6% shooting.

Florida State was led offensively by O'Mariah Gordon who netted 10 points and three assists in the win. Erin Howard finished her game with eight points and six rebounds.

NEXT UP

Pitt heads to Greensboro for the 2022 ACC Tournament. They will be the No. 15 seed and play the No. 10 seed Duke on Wednesday, Mar. 2 at 3:30 pm inside the Greensboro Coliseum.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the loss, Pitt falls to 0-9 all-time against Florida State and 0-5 in games played in Pittsburgh.
The Panthers have used 11 different starting lineup through 18 ACC games, the most lineup combinations in the conference.
Pitt grabbed 45 rebounds in the loss, they have grabbed at least 35 rebounds in 27 of their 29 games this season.
Pitt has grabbed 40+ rebounds 21 times this season, most in a season under Coach White.
The Panthers held Florida State to 35.6% shooting in the loss and have now held 28 of 29 opponents to 45% or less shooting from the floor this season. The Panthers have held a total of 18 opponents to less than 40% shooting this season.

Amber Brown

Brown finished off her game with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of action.
She went 6-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-3 from the free throw line in the loss.
It marked her third double-double this season and the eighth of her career.
She has now scored in double figures a career-high 13 times this season and in 36 games overall in her career.
Brown has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in four games this season and in 15 total games in her career.
She played 30 minutes for the eighth time this season and 35^th time in her career.