PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women’s basketball team (7-11, 0-7 ACC) hung tough with the No. 12 team in the nation, Virginia Tech, on Thursday night but fell at the Petersen Events Center by the score of 69-62. The Hokies improved to 15-3 overall and 5-3 in ACC play with the win.
Senior captain Amber Brown posted her seventh straight game in double figures in the loss as she finished with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds while going 4-for-6 from the floor and 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the loss. Maliyah Johnson netted 13 points and four rebounds while Liatu King finished off her night with nine points, four rebounds and three steals in the loss. off the bench Cynthia Ezeja made an impact as she had five points, three rebounds and a block in 12 minutes of work.
ESSENTIAL GAME INFO
Pitt starting lineup: Marley Washenitz, Maliyah Johnson, Avery Strickland, Liatu King, Amber Brown
Virginia Tech starting lineup: Georgia Amoore, Taylor Soule, Cayla King, Kayana Traylor, Elizabeth Kitley
Records: Pitt (7-11, 0-7 ACC) | Virginia Tech (15-3, 5-3 ACC)
Location: Petersen Events Center | Pittsburgh, PA
GAME FLOW
Largest lead: Pitt – 0, Virginia Tech – 11
Lead changes: 0
Times tied: 1
Time with lead: Pitt – 0:00 | Virginia Tech – 39:21
Points off turnovers: Pitt – 12 | Virginia Tech – 10
Points in the paint: Pitt – 26 | Virginia Tech – 24
Second chance points: Pitt – 10 | Virginia Tech – 12
Fast break points: Pitt – 3 | Virginia Tech – 10
Bench points: Pitt – 12 | Virginia Tech – 7
FIRST QUARTER
- The Hokies opened the scoring with the first five points of the game Avery Strickland got hot for the Panthers as she netted the first seven points to make it 9-7 in favor of Virginia Tech early on.
- Amy Hayford finished off a layup and free throw and Marley Washenitz netted a contested layup as Pitt went to the second quarter trailing Virginia Tech 17-13.
- The Panthers shot 38% from the floor while they held the potent Hokies to just 37% shooting in the first 10 minutes.
SECOND QUARTER
- Making her first appearance in 10 games, Cynthia Ezeja made a big impact early in the second quarter as she finished off a pair of free throws along with a couple rebounds and a blocked shot to make it 17-15 in favor of the Hokies.
- The Hokies pushed their lead out to six, 25-19, about three minutes into the quarter as they went on a quick 8-4 run but Pitt didn’t go away.
- Maliyah Johnson netted four straight points before Dayshanette Harris grabbed an offensive rebound and put back layup to make it 32-27 in favor of Virginia Tech at the media timeout in the second.
- Out of the media, Johnson drilled a triple and Liatu King netted a deep jumper to send the Panthers to the locker room trailing by just two, 34-32.
- Pitt outscored the Hokies 19-17 in the second quarter as they only turned it over twice in the quarter while forcing five missed triples in the quarter for the Hokies.
THIRD QUARTER
- Virginia Tech opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run before King knocked down her first jumper of the quarter to make it 42-36 in favor of Virginia Tech.
- The Hokies pushed the lead back to nine, 50-41, but King finished off a layup and free throw to get Pitt back within six.
- The visitors pushed the lead out to 11, 57-46, late in the quarter but Brown closed out the quarter with four straight points to make it 57-50 through 30 minutes of action.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Ezeja opened the fourth with a layup and Brown finished off a layup and free throw to get Pitt within four, 59-55, just over three minutes into the final frame.
- The Hokies responded quickly with back-to-back triples to push their lead back to eight and they never looked back down the stretch.
- Brown converted her second and one of the fourth to close out the scoring for Pitt as they fell at home to Virginia Tech 69-62.
- The two teams were tied, 12-12, in scoring in the final quarter.
TEAM STATS
- Pitt finished the game shooting 41.2% from the floor and 85% from the free throw line while the Hokies shot 42.4% from the floor and 84.6% from the line in the win.
- Virginia Tech held the 36-30 edge in rebounds while also outscoring Pitt 10-3 in the fast break scoring category.
UP NEXT
- The Panthers head south this weekend as they travel to Tallahassee to take on the Florida State Seminoles Sunday, Jan. 22 at 2:00 p.m. Sunday’s game will air on ACC Network Extra.
PITT NOTES
Team
- With the loss, Pitt falls to 5-14 all-time against the Hokies and they have lost seven straight in the series. Pitt also falls to 3-5 against Virginia Tech in games played in Pittsburgh.
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